The rightist Keiko Fujimori He regained a slight advantage over the leftist on Wednesday Roberto Sanchez in the close official vote count of the second presidential round in Peru, a contest whose end is still uncertain.
With the 98.21% of the minutes scrutinized, Fujimori gathered 50% of the votes compared to Sánchez’s 49.99%, according to results from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) published on its website.
Boosted by votes in the United States and Japan, candidate Fujimori, 51, leads by a slim margin of a few hundred votes to Sánchez, 57 years old.
The electoral authority reported that the final count “It could take between two weeks or until the end of the month”, depending on the observations to the minutes that are recorded.
To declare a winner, in addition, contested minutes containing some 480,000 voteswhich can take days.
“We are going to wait for the official figures, but without a doubt, when the count increases, especially of the minutes that are coming from abroad, it gives us a lot, a lot of encouragement,” said journalist Keiko Fujimori.
The presidential candidate called herself “optimistic and prudent” (…) and will respect, whatever it may be, the result.”
Faced with the new scenario, Sánchez denounced that there are “maneuvers and wills to distort democracy“, alluding to a “press sector” that attacks him.
“The electoral results must be respected, regardless of wishes or not,” Sánchez clarified to the press, without ruling out a call for peaceful demonstrations.
The count falls within the Peruvian standard. The final result of the 2021 runoff between the leftist Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori met six weeks after the vote. Castillo obtained 50.12% compared to Fujimori’s 49.87%.
An electoral observation mission of the European Union indicated that the second round was developed in a “calm and orderly”, in the context of a polarized campaign.
The runoff pitted the daughter of the deceased former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) of the Fuerza Popular party, with Sánchez, from Together for Peru and political heir of former president Pedro Castillo, imprisoned after a failed self-coup in 2022.
It is the fourth time that Fujimori competes for the presidency, while for Sánchez it is his first nomination.
The winner will replace the July 28 to interim president José María Balcázar for a term of five years.
