She was a parliamentary coordinator and lawyer of the Legal Management of the Social Security Normalization Office. Additionally, she was a legal advisor at the
Ministry of Labour and Promotion of Employment. In the
2010 Lima municipal elections, she was elected councilor of
Santa María del Mar for
Popular Action. And also deputy mayor, during the administration of Viviana Roda Scheuch, for the municipal period 2010-2014. In the
2020 parliamentary elections, she tried again to run for Congress for Popular Action, but was not elected again.
Congress of Peru President of Congress In the
2021 general elections, Alva was elected congresswoman of the republic for Acción Popular, with 25,219 votes, for the 2021-2026 parliamentary term. On July 26, 2021, Alva was elected
president of the Congress of the Republic for the 2021-2022 legislative period. As a congresswoman, she defended bills perceived as unfavourable to workers, including the extension of the workday, provisions facilitating layoffs, or the rejection of social security projects. and received a constitutional complaint by
Minister of Labor Betssy Chávez, who accused her of leading a criminal organization engaged in alleged attempts to overthrow his government.
El Búho wrote "her expressions and behavior have often been considered racist, petulant and even violent" and noted that Alva stated that every member of congress should "get preferential treatment." During her tenure, Congress faced corruption investigations for purchasing 350 new computers at twice their market value, costing millions of
soles. Alva said that her office was not involved with the purchase of the computers. Cortez, a former city cleaner of indigenous descent, had moved from her seat during a discussion among some parliamentarians following statements made by Norma Yarrow of the far-right Renovación Popular party (an ally of Alva's party, Acción Popular) accusing the Castillo government of "selling itself for a plate of lentils", which caused an outcry and uproar among parliamentarians. Cortez approached the seat where Alva's colleague Wilson Soto was sitting, with several congressmen also around him. López also revealed that Alva was very upset at the meeting that took place for the vote, banging on the door of the room and swearing.
Infobae noted that Alva's comment occurred after over a dozen people were killed in a single day in the
Juliaca massacre. criticized the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on violence against protesters and said that the report was untruthful, defending the response by authorities while saying demonstrators were engaged in "terrorist acts." On 9 June 2023, Alva again was involved in an altercation in which she was seen physically shaking Congresswoman Francis Paredes, from the Podemos Perú group and representative for Ucayali, in order to change her vote in favor of the return to bicameralism in the Congress of the Republic. Following the leak, Alva called for the removal of Flores from his position, saying "the aforementioned congressman spoke about me, defaming me and accusing me of having insinuated that he appropriates salaries." On 18 February 2026, following the
censure and removal of President
José Jerí, Maricarmen was nominated by
Popular Action for President of Congress and for the interim
presidency of Peru, receiving support from
Fujimorists of
Popular Force. However in the final ballot, she lost to
José María Balcázar of
Free Peru. == Political positions ==