After Datum Internacional’s quick count for América Televisión, the presidential candidacy of José Luna Gálvez was left out of the race, as were his candidates for Congress (Chamber of Deputies and Senate). Furthermore, the result represents the loss of the registration of the political organization before the National Elections Jury (JNE).
In other words, the party would enter a crisis and lose the political weight that—at least—it obtained during the last parliamentary period (2021-2026), when it achieved up to 12 seats in the Legislative Palace and even the presidencies of important commissions in previous months.
Although he will not overcome the electoral hurdle to maintain registration (5% of valid votes nationwide), Gálvez could participate in the Regional and Municipal Elections in October of this year, according to electoral issues expert Roy Mendoza.
—A game in free fall—
The quick count revealed that the presidential candidacy of José Luna Gálvez does not appear in the first places but is part of the “other” candidates for the Presidency who together account for 22.9% of votes nationwide. In the main photo are Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular) with 16.8%, Rafael López Aliaga (Renovación Popular) with 12.9%, Jorge Nieto (Buen Gobierno) 11.6% and Ricardo Belmont with 10.1%, according to Datum Internacional’s quick count.
In the preliminary results of the ONPE (National Office of Electoral Processes) at 61.081% of records counted, the situation did not change. Luna Gálvez appeared in eleventh place with 1.3% of the total, which represents the vote of 147,200 citizens. That is to say, the presidential team that includes Luna Gálvez with Cecilia García and Raúl Noblecilla, the first and second vice presidents, respectively, obtained minuscule support from the population.
Until 7:30 p.m. this Monday, the ONPE recorded that Gálvez obtained 49,861 votes in the Lima region.
Meanwhile, an important fact to remember is that Podemos Peru had 149 candidates for deputies and 80 candidates for senators among its lists (50 for a single district and 30 for multiple districts).
How much did Podemos spend for this campaign?
On March 20 of this year, the Podemos party presented its campaign expense report to the National Office of Electoral Processes. According to the ONPE Claridad portal, said party detailed S/ 415,982.46 as income and S/ 183,352.23 as electoral campaign expenses.
As a concept of income expenses, it recorded an initial balance of the electoral campaign S/ 0.21, individual contributions in cash and in kind S/ 198,667.20, income from proselytizing financing activities S/ 217,287.83 and other income from the electoral campaign S/ 27.22.
On the other hand, in the central registry of electoral campaign expenses from March 26, 2025 to March 13, 2026, it reported that S/0.00 in the concept of electoral propaganda expenses carried out in the media, the same in other electoral propaganda expenses, but in other electoral campaign expenses it recorded S/ 183,352.23
What investigations is José Luna Gálvez facing?
Luna Gálvez faces two investigations into the ‘Los Cuellos Blancos del Puerto’ case.
In the first, the crime of organized crime and specific active bribery is attributed to him, when he tried to take over the electoral system to register Podemos with the ONPE between 2016 and 2017; while in the second, he is accused of payments and transfers of publication rights to former advisor Iván Noguera of the deactivated National Council of the Judiciary (today JNJ) in exchange for the appointment of the former head of the ONPE, Carlos Castillo Meza.
In a third case, he is charged with the alleged crime of money laundering, linked to the former National Solidarity party of Luis Castañeda Lossio and the alleged illicit contributions that he would have received through the Telesup University. Despite all this, he continued with his candidacy for the Presidency.
What commissions did Podemos have in Congress?
During its stay in Parliament, the Podemos bench managed to obtain the presidency of the Budget Commission. On August 18, 2022, José Luna Gálvez was elected as president of that Board of Directors until 2023. He was accompanied by José Arriola, at that time from Acción Popular and Alejandro Aguinaga from Fuerza Popular, as vice president and secretary, respectively.
On August 16, 2023, Congresswoman Kira Alcarraz, on that date from Podemos, was elected president of the Commission on Social Inclusion and People with Disabilities for the period 2023-2024. She was accompanied by Miguel Ciccia (Popular Renewal) and Lucinda Vásquez, from the then Magisterial Bloc, as vice president and secretary of the commission, respectively.
Congressman Juan Burgos, when he was in Podemos, was elected on August 21, 2024 as president of the Oversight Commission for the period 2024-2025 along with Héctor Valer (Somos Perú) and Segundo Montalvo (Perú Libre).
Can we participate in other elections again?
According to the expert on electoral issues Roy Mendoza, the situation of the Podemos party could be in decline if the ONPE confirms that, with 100% of the minutes counted, the group remains at 1.3% and does not exceed the electoral barrier.
In dialogue with El Comercio, he assured, however, that he could participate in the next Municipal and Regional Elections, scheduled for October of this year, and that, if he lost registration, the political group would not be able to participate in any process starting in January 2027.
“If you told me that the elections were closed, they had already been counted, then if Podemos were out, I would have to lose registration in January 2027. And that does not mean that they cannot participate in the ERM, Regional and Municipal Elections 2026, the one in October,” he said.
The expert made it clear that – in effect – the consequences of not passing the fence will be that they will not have representation in Congress (Deputies and Senators) and that they will lose registration.
