Lima, Peru – Controversial nationalist Ollanta Humala, a front-runner in presidential preference polls, officially registered as a candidate on Friday.
Humala registered at the elections office in Lima along with his running mates, economist Gonzalo Garcia Nuñez and attorney Carlos Torres Caro, who are seeking the posts of first and second vice president, respectively.
Peru’s general elections are set for April 9, 2006, and the deadline for candidates to register is Jan. 9
The Humala “ticket” is the first of the serious contenders to formally register.
Humala came in first in a nationwide poll conducted by the Idice organization this month, and second in surveys conducted by four other entities.
Those polls had conservative Lourdes Flores in first place, with former Presidents Alan Garcia and Valentin Paniagua trailing Humala.
The nationalist leader and his running mates were accompanied to the elections office by hundreds of his supporters, who carried signs and shouted slogans.
Humala told the press that if he is elected he will install a “participative democracy” and call for cutting the salaries of the president, Cabinet members and legislators, salaries that are notably high for a country where much of the population lives below the poverty level.
The presidential candidate also said his program of government includes reviving the agricultural sector, “setting limits on Chilean investments” and promoting industrialization.
The results of the polls do not worry him, he said, as he is only concerned with going forward with his program.
Humala appears to be distancing himself somewhat from the Peruvian Nationalist Party, which he formally heads along with his brother Antauro, now in jail after leading a failed uprising last January. In the past, the party has called for setting up a government along the lines of the Inca empire, abolishing all forms of currency, nationalizing foreign companies, legalizing all coca farming and jailing homosexuals, among other policies.
When someone registers to run for office, the elections office accepts the registration provisionally, but any party or individual may file a formal objection to it within a specified period.
Registration becomes official only if the election board rules against whatever objections are filed. Otherwise, the registration is rejected.
