Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori was officially declared the winner of the second round of the presidential election in Peru on Monday June 29, three weeks after the vote. Keiko Fujimori, 51, is credited with 50.13% of the votes, against 49.86% for her left-wing rival Roberto Sanchez, according to the final results published on the website of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE).
This second round is one of the closest elections in recent history in Latin America, with the final gap between the two rivals being 50,000 votes out of more than 18 million voters.
His victory marks the return of Fujimorism to power, more than two decades after the end of the reign of his father Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who governed the country with an iron fist before falling into disgrace, convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity. The Fujimori camp was waiting for the victory to be made official, the Fuerza Popular candidate having had a lead since last week that her rival could no longer fill.
But Roberto Sanchez, 57, political heir of former head of state Pedro Castillo, suggested that he would not recognize the result and is calling for the cancellation of the votes of Peruvians abroad, denouncing irregularities. On Saturday, for the second consecutive weekend, he led a march of hundreds of supporters in Lima denouncing “a serious attack on the electoral process”. “We are going to contact international authorities so that the will of the people is recognized,” he told the crowd from a balcony before the start of the mobilization.
Towards the end of political instability?
This election was supposed to put an end to the strong political instability in the Andean country, where eight presidents have succeeded one another since 2016, against a backdrop of repeated institutional crises. The handover of power with interim president José Maria Balcazar is scheduled for July 28 for a five-year term.
“Every day closer to a path of order and hope for all Peruvians,” Ms. Fujimori published on
Keiko Fujimori acknowledged inheriting a country “fragmented” by a polarized campaign and the small margin left at the polls in the second round. “We know the country is divided. We have a great responsibility to listen to both sides. The doors to dialogue are open” for Roberto Sanchez and all the political forces in the country, she assured.
