June 2, 2005
By Fernando Oshige.

LIMA, Peru – Pastor Humberto Lay, a likely presidential candidate in 2006 for the National Restoration Movement, was harshly critical of the government of President Alejandro Toledo and politicians that led the country over the past 40 years.

"These governments seem like they have agreed upon a systematic plan to destroy the country, each one complementing what the previous one did," said Lay.

"Today we are in the midst of a generalized crisis with a dangerous social pressure that could produce a social explosion and lead to anarchy or another extremist or dictatorial adventure."

Lay, a pastor from the Emmanuel Biblical Church, was a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission during the Valentin Paniagua (2001) transition government and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the Toledo government.

He currently presides the MRN, an Evangelical party that is waiting for the National Electoral Processes Office to validate the signatures of those supporting the movement and to formalize its inscription for upcoming April 2006 elections.

The Toledo government, said Lay, has shown some positive work in the macro-economic arena but has lost support due to its lack of leadership, generalized corruption, unfilled promises and scandals involving the president and his relatives.

According to Lay, the most serious thing in the Fujimori government was the systemic corruption affecting the highest levels of government and the loss of moral values on the part of a major sector of the nation.

During the Alan Garcia government, he added, the people suffered the consequences of hyperinflation, isolation from the international financial system and the internal war that left more than 10,000 dead and $18 billion in material damages.

The Peruvian people do not believe in the political class and for this reason more than 70 percent of the population want politicians to "leave" according to polls. Congress does not approve the laws that the country needs to progress, investigative commissions do not reach any conclusions and congress representatives collect 16 salaries in a country where more than 50 percent lives in poverty and 15 percent in extreme poverty, he said.

This lack of credibility extends to the Judicial Brach, affected by corruption, the public ministry that does not process the corrupt and human rights violators and security forces, he added.

In the face of this dark panorama "We Christians must continue to pray for the nation and for its governors and we must extend the Christian message with passion and compassion for the dispossessed and those who suffer. However, today our participation in society with the values of the Christian faith but also with professionalism and excellent is more necessary than ever, he said.

These are the reasons, said Lay in a manifest addressed to more than 3 million Peruvian Evangelicals that explain why a group of citizens have decided to directly and decisively intervene in the political life of the country.

National Restoration is born, according to Lay, with a vision to reach government to benefit the people regardless of their class, to serve and not be served, to be a powerful motor against corruption and which impels the country to prosperity. It is not born to impose our faith but rather to contribute with the values of the Word of God in the construction of a new republic, that is truly in solidarity and dignified where we Peruvians can life in peace, he concluded.

Latin American and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC)