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Previous Delegations And ReportsNayarit (1999) Guatemala (1999) Mexico (2000) Peru (2001) El Salvador (2003) ______________________________________________
On April 8, 2001, the people of Peru will go to the polls to select their president and members of congress. Transparencia, a well-respected Peruvian non-governmental organization that promotes the development of civil society and democracy in that country, has invited CommonBorders to send a delegation of electoral observers for this important election.
Peru: Election Background Peru's national elections of April 2000 saw president Alberto Fujimori win an unprecedented and, according to Transparencia, an "unconstitutional third term as president." The elections were monitored by a number of international observer delegations including the Organization of American States, the National Democratic Institute of the United States, the International Federation of Human Rights and the International Electoral Reform Service. These organizations, along with Transparencia, concluded that the elections were filled with irregularities and "lacked the minimum conditions to be considered democratic, free and fair." Amid widespread allegations of fraud and corruption that followed him into his third term, President Alberto Fujimori resigned suddenly last October while on a trade mission in Japan. Fujimori has remained in Japan while the nation's congress subsequently voted to reject his resignation and instead declared him to be "morally incapable" of governing. As a result of
these developments, Peru has undertaken steps to reform its constitution and the
nation's electoral institutions and processes in preparation for national
elections to be held on April 8th of this year. |
