The imminent passage of Roberto Sanchez to the second round It will surely cause an outbreak of hysteria among those who hate the left, the political sector that the candidate claims to represent. Thus, once again, we will see how the color red will be equated with a blind vocation for backwardness or the destruction of what has been achieved so far.
As if there were a strong fear of appearing concessive, the political right seems reluctant to learn and, far from building bridges with those who demonstrate from the center, chooses to take refuge in a safe zone. Consequently, for these sectors, all shades of red do nothing more than flirt with communism.
In fact, the first to formulate it was Keiko Fujimori herself, the only safe candidate in the June runoff. On the night of Sunday the 12th, in a brief speech after the broadcast of Datum’s quick count, he stressed that “the enemy is the left.”
But the enemy that Fujimori senses seems to finally sneak into the second round, although this must still be ratified by the official results. Be that as it may, it seems to be a minor enemy, at least according to what the most recent opinion polls report.
Indeed, a recent IEP study (February, 2026), for example, indicates that only one in four Peruvians (26%) identifies as left-wing. The rest is distributed as follows: 42% on the right and 32% on the center.
In any case, is it ideological differentiation that should be imposed in the second round? For the average voter, that volatile conglomerate that did not vote for Fujimori or his companion in the second round, there are issues of greater importance.
So much so that, adding their respective valid votes, Fujimori and his eventual challenger do not exceed 30%, which leaves a wide margin of voters to conquer. It is difficult for this elusive population group to be interested in disputes more typical of other times or situations.
On the contrary, for this sector, urgent issues have been absent from the electoral debate and will undoubtedly demand that they be discussed now. The moment is ideal, since narrowing down positions between two is more effective than fighting for a starter in a chorus of thirty-five.
Thus, it will be the time to present proposals related to the fight against crime, the impact of economic populism of recent times (in which both Fujimori’s party and Sánchez’s votes have played a role), or the thunderous political noise that slows down decision-making.
Certainly, every second round is a blank page and represents a story to fill. Perhaps it is worth reviewing that phrase from Marx that points out that everything in “history happens twice: the first as a tragedy, the second as a farce.”
*El Comercio opens its pages to the exchange of ideas and reflections. In this plural framework, the Diario does not necessarily agree with the opinions of the columnists who sign them, although it always respects them.
