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| Leading candidate for Peru presidency barred from election over technical error | Leading candidate for Peru presidency barred from election over technical error |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Peru’s electoral tribunal has barred the second-placed presidential candidate Julio Guzmán from the electoral race over a technical error in the registration of his candidacy. | Peru’s electoral tribunal has barred the second-placed presidential candidate Julio Guzmán from the electoral race over a technical error in the registration of his candidacy. |
| Just a month before a presidential election on 10 April, the electoral body rejected an appeal by Guzmán’s political party Todos Por el Perú on Wednesday, excluding the 45-year-old economist from the race. | |
| Fourth-placed candidate Cesar Acuña, the millionaire owner of three universities accused of plagiarism, was also barred. The tribunal upheld an accusation that Acuña had broken a new electoral law against vote-buying by handing out money to voters. | Fourth-placed candidate Cesar Acuña, the millionaire owner of three universities accused of plagiarism, was also barred. The tribunal upheld an accusation that Acuña had broken a new electoral law against vote-buying by handing out money to voters. |
| The pair had appealed the decision made by a lower court, the Special Electoral Tribunal, last week. The ruling had sparked indignation and accusations of meddling by other powerful but less popular presidential candidates. Guzmán supporters called it an attack on democracy. The exclusion of the two candidates leaves around a quarter of Peru’s potential votes available. | The pair had appealed the decision made by a lower court, the Special Electoral Tribunal, last week. The ruling had sparked indignation and accusations of meddling by other powerful but less popular presidential candidates. Guzmán supporters called it an attack on democracy. The exclusion of the two candidates leaves around a quarter of Peru’s potential votes available. |
| Guzmán, a former vice-minister and Inter-American Development Bank economist, had called the decision an “anticipated fraud” and part of a “corrupt system”. In a race dominated by familiar faces, Guzman appealed to 63% of voters who wanted a new figure, according to an pollster GFK. | Guzmán, a former vice-minister and Inter-American Development Bank economist, had called the decision an “anticipated fraud” and part of a “corrupt system”. In a race dominated by familiar faces, Guzman appealed to 63% of voters who wanted a new figure, according to an pollster GFK. |
| A virtual unknown a few months ago, Guzmán had surged in the polls to second place and was mooted as the only candidate capable of defeating frontrunner Keiko Fujimori in a run-off vote on 5 June. Fujimori, who polls indicate has around one-third of the vote, is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who was jailed in 2009 for human rights abuses and corruption during his decade in power from 1990 to 2000. | |
| The tribunal’s decision has attracted international attention. Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University, wrote in a column for Peruvian daily La Republica: “In the last three decades, no Latin American democracy has excluded a viable candidate [like Guzmán] for bureaucratic reasons. Not one.” | The tribunal’s decision has attracted international attention. Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University, wrote in a column for Peruvian daily La Republica: “In the last three decades, no Latin American democracy has excluded a viable candidate [like Guzmán] for bureaucratic reasons. Not one.” |