Peru Presidential Elections 2016 News: Board Bans Julio Guzman, Cesar Acuna; Barring May Benefit Leading Candidate Keiko Fujimori
The National Jury of Elections of Peru barred two leading candidates Julio Guzman and Cesar Acuña from the presidential race, leaving Keiko Fujimori with an almost-certain win.
As the daughter of the country's embattled former president Alberto Fujimori, Fujimori held a powerful lead over her contenders, despite accusations thrown at her 77-year-old father.
Now that two of her leading contenders are out of the way, victory for the young Fujimori has become more certain.
Julio Guzman
Guzman, an Inter-American Development Bank economist and ex-finance minister, currently holds a 16.6 percent approval rating from the voting population per a recent opinion poll via Twitter.
Unfortunately, he was pushed from the presidential race after allegedly failing to comply with proper procedures when filing the registration of his presidential ticket.
The 3-2 decision that led to Guzman's removal from the race was revealed on Wednesday.
As expected, the former presidential candidate did not wholeheartedly accept the decision, which he described to be an "anticipated fraud," per GFK.com.
He also deemed it unfair if the electoral court did not consider accusations of illegal distribution of gifts and prizes to voters against Fujimori.
"If their cases are not treated with the same criteria, the current election and potential elected authorities become illegitimate," he stated.
Daniel Mora, a spokesperson from Guzman's All for Peru party deemed the decision "totally unjust," admitting that he was "stunned" at how the court voted.
The case also attracted the attention of political experts from all over the world.
"In the last three decades, no Latin American democracy has excluded a viable candidate [like Guzmán] for bureaucratic reasons. Not one," Harvard University political scientist Steven Levitsky said in a report from La Republica.
"I cannot think of a democracy anywhere in the contemporary world in which major presidential contenders are excluded from the race for minor infractions," he added.
Cesar Acuña
Like Fujimori, Acuña has been accused of illegally handing out gifts to voters, which he described as a "humanitarian aid."
However, the electoral board immediately removed him from the presidential race because he reportedly "engaged in prohibited conduct."
Acuña, a wealthy businessman who is running under the Alliance for Progress Party, currently holds 3 percent of the voters per the statistics posted above.
Keiko Fujimori
Keiko Fujimori still leads the polls with nearly 35 percent amid accusations of violation of human rights against her father, Ex-President Alberto Fujimori.
During his reign between 1990 and 2000, the former Peruvian president allegedly forced indigenous women to undergo sterilization.
However, the young Fujimori strongly denied the accusations, saying that she will "seek the truth." She added that "If there was any woman operated without her consent, she will have to be compensated by the state," during her campaign rally on the International Women's Day.