Peru’s Electoral Deadline Approaches Amid Post-Election Uncertainty
LIMA, Peru — The electoral tribunal of Peru has mandated a deadline for election authorities to finalize vote counting and announce the candidates moving forward to the next round of the presidential election. The deadline, set for May 15, is critical for Peru’s elections agency, ONPE, to declare which two candidates will compete in the June 7 runoff.
With over 30 candidates in the initial April 12 election and no single contender securing more than half the votes, the top two must advance to a second round. Currently, the margin between the second and third place candidates remains narrow, and the election process has faced challenges, such as irregularities that necessitated the reopening of some polling stations in Lima for an additional day.
Election officials continue to process vote tallies from remote regions and Peruvian consulates abroad. Numerous tally sheets have been contested by observers and are pending review by election authorities.
As it stands, with 93.5% of the votes counted, conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori is leading with 17.05% of the vote, positioning her strongly for the June runoff.
Roberto Sánchez, a nationalist congressman and former minister under the administration of the jailed ex-President Pedro Castillo, is currently in second place, garnering 12% of the votes. He is closely followed by Rafael López Aliaga, the ultraconservative ex-mayor of Lima, who has 11.91% of the vote.
López Aliaga has contested the partial results, alleging, without evidence, that a “gigantic fraud” occurred. He has called for a supplementary election to include the participation of Peruvians who did not vote on April 12. However, a European Union electoral observation mission reported no indications of fraud despite logistical issues.
During his campaign, López Aliaga emphasized a strict security policy, suggesting the construction of prisons in the Amazon, measures for judges to conceal their identities, and the expulsion of undocumented foreigners. However, he has not proposed significant changes to Peru’s market economy.
In contrast, Sánchez, a former commerce minister, advocates for substantial economic reforms, including increased government expenditure, tax system overhauls, and partial nationalization of Peru’s natural resources. Initially, he proposed replacing the central bank director but later stated he would uphold the bank’s independence.
Despite receiving fewer first-round votes than Fujimori, both Sánchez and López Aliaga are seen as formidable opponents in the upcoming runoff.
Fujimori, the daughter of a former president imprisoned for human rights violations, has previously advanced to the second round of presidential elections three times but has not secured a victory.
The winner of this election will become Peru’s ninth president in a decade, succeeding José María Balcázar, who assumed the interim presidency in February after his predecessor was removed due to corruption allegations.
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