Pro-Fujimori Party Quits Race Amid Scandal
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LIMA, Peru — One of four parties backing President Alberto Fujimori’s reelection bid has pulled out of the race after being accused of forging a million signatures to register the Peruvian leader for the April vote.
The twist is just the latest in a campaign riddled with accusations of government dirty tricks. The Atlanta-based Carter Center and other international groups have said that conditions for a democratic vote do not exist in Peru, which has one of the region’s worst human rights records.
The National Independent Front, one of four parties in Fujimori’s Peru 2000 alliance, is charged with forging the signatures. It vowed it will run no candidates in the April 9 general elections, the national election board said Thursday.
Daniel Chuan, head of the party, and Oscar Medelius, a member of Congress, withdrew from their congressional races Wednesday night, legislators said. Chuan and Medelius each denied wrongdoing.
Fujimori remains well ahead of his nearest rival, centrist Alejandro Toledo.
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