This Sunday the first set of the election campaign for the renewal of national political leadership. We reached this first milestone with an electorate mired in confusion and apathy, if not in escapism.
As is evident, Sunday’s day will provide some certainties. They are few, but they are. Firstly, the figures released at the close of the legal deadline confirm one of the two participants in the second round, scheduled for Sunday, June 7. The second round will be, as usual, a short and intense campaign.
We can also foresee the tone that the runoff will take, depending on the participants. Both the debates and the events surrounding the respective campaign closings will give clues as to whether it will be a shock campaign or a heightened debate. An additional component will be the spirit with which the contenders accept Sunday’s results, some of which will probably be very close both at the national and subnational levels.
Thirdly, we will have an approach to the congressional composition. At least a large part of the few parties that overcome the fence will be seen, although with unnamed seats. This will be particularly relevant in the half of the Senate elected by multiple electoral district vote. The thing is that, in all constituencies (with the exception of Lima), the vote can be won, in theory, by one vote, so challenges will be the order of the day.
Finally, it is highly probable that the old gaps that separate Lima from the regions will be reproduced. The difference in results, for example, between Lima and the south will surely generate astonishment and disbelief among a good portion of observers based in the capital. How come we didn’t see such a character coming? Where did such a candidate get that percentage in that locality?
It must be remembered that, in the regions, the campaign was marked by apathy and disinterest. Does it make sense to deal with an election of a head of state who will probably be more at the mercy of Parliament’s indulgence than the empathy of ordinary citizens? Doesn’t it make more sense to pay attention to the October elections, when mayors and governors are elected? After all, in the regions politics is valued more in the concrete and in the everyday, because ‘all politics is local’, as the North American saying goes.
Faced with this, there are actions that deepen and aggravate these distances. For example, the recent decision of the electoral authorities that, based on incomprehensible “whimsical interpretations”, does nothing more than “deepen the crisis of representation”, as Carlos Meléndez points out when referring to the JNE ruling on the electoral fence for the Senate (The Commerce4/5/2026).
*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.
