By Marco Aquino

A general view of the the National Congress in Lima, Peru November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

LIMA, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Peru’s electoral authority will provide bulletproof vests to presidential candidates ahead of April’s elections after a spate of attacks on politicians in the Andean nation.

Roberto Burneo, president of Peru’s National Jury of Elections, announced the move on Tuesday and said he feared the 2026 election would be more violent than the 2021 campaign, when some 50 violent events were registered.

“What we want is to prevent and identify risks,” he told reporters. “No effort should be spared, even if it means going to the extreme of using bulletproof vests.”

He said election staff would also get the protective equipment. It was unclear if candidates for lower offices would also receive vests.

On April 12, Peruvian voters will elect the president, two vice presidents and 190 lawmakers in the two-chamber national legislature.

Some 39 parties or political coalitions are expected to put forward candidates by December 23, up from 18 in 2021. According to an Ipsos Peru poll on Sunday, no current contender for presidential nomination would attract more than 10% support, and a runoff is expected on June 7.

Shots were fired on Tuesday at Rafael Belaunde, a potential presidential candidate for the Libertad Popular (People’s Liberty) party, in his vehicle in Lima, prompting him to return gunfire.

Burneo said he asked the government on Tuesday to expedite electoral security protocols following the attack on Belaunde.

Belaunde told reporters on Wednesday that he thought the attack was street crime rather than politically motivated. He said he was attending to personal matters and not campaigning at the time.

“We cannot normalize violence,” he said.

Percy Ipanaque, a legislature candidate for the leftist Juntos por el Peru (Together for Peru) party, was shot dead on Friday by alleged hitmen in northern Peru.

Peru has a tumultuous political landscape with seven presidents in as many years, several of whom are behind bars.

Current President Jose Jeri, who took over from deeply unpopular Dina Boluarte in October, decreed a state of emergency shortly after taking office in a bid to curb insecurity, which voters have told pollsters is their biggest concern.

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