Leading candidate for Peru presidency barred from election over technical error

Disqualification of second-placed contender Julio Guzmán a month
before election sparks indignation and accusations of meddling by
other candidates

Dan Collyns in Lima
Wednesday 9 March 2016 17.15 GMT

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 Peru 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.

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.

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