Peruvians rally to demand presidential candidate’s removal from race
Thousands of people have marched in the Peruvian capital, Lima, to demand that the government cancel the candidacy of presidential front-runner Keiko Fujimori ahead of the country’s upcoming election.
The protesters on Friday called for conservative Fujimori’s removal over accusations that she and a running mate had handed out gifts and prizes at campaign rallies in a possible violation of the law.
Protesters gathered at the headquarters of the National Jury of Elections and chanted slogans against Fujimori.
Police forces moved the protesters back to a square farther away.
Although pictures and videos reportedly seem to support the accusations against Fujimori, who is the daughter of the country’s imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, she has dismissed them as “absurd.”
The country’s electoral authorities are investigating the accusations.
“People are rising up to say enough of these irregularities and the Fujimori ambition of returning to power,” Jorge Rodriguez, the organizer of the Fujimori Never Again group, said, during the protest.
The demonstrations came just days after Julio Guzman, one of Fujimori’s rivals, was removed from the presidential race by the electoral tribunal for corruption after allegedly giving cash to the poor during his campaign. He has dismissed the decision as being meant to tarnish his image.
Presidential elections in Peru are scheduled to be held on April 10.
Polls show Fujimori, who narrowly lost her first presidential bid in 2011, currently has one-third of the votes.
Fujimori’s father, president from 1990 to 2000, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses and corruption.
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