The World : Peru Leftists Quit Runoff

Peru’s leftist parties decided to withdraw from the presidential runoff election, handing the office uncontested to center-left congressman Alan Garcia. Garcia, 35, took an estimated 47% of the vote in Peru’s April 14 presidential election, short of the absolute majority required under the constitution. In the runoff, he would have faced Lima’s Marxist Mayor Alfonso Barrantes, who had 23% of the vote in the first round. But Barrantes, who had said he didn’t expect to win, decided to pull out of the race after meeting with leftist party officials. Meanwhile, the official in charge of the elections, Domingo Garcia Rada, remained in critical condition after being shot several times in an assassination attempt, apparently by Marxist guerrillas.