Votes were counted for three weeks.
Keiko Fujimori, photo Wikimedia Commons
Conservative politician Keiko Fujimori won the second round of presidential elections in Peru, ahead of leftist candidate Roberto Sanchez, writes the BBC.
The 51-year-old daughter of Alberto Fujimori, Peru's president in the late 90s, who was convicted of crimes against humanity, promises to continue her father's course, who fought crime and rebels with an iron fist.
Keiko Fujimori has tried to become president for the past 15 years, and each time her opponents of various views united to prevent a member of the Fujimori family from becoming head of state. Her fourth attempt was successful.
The vote recount lasted more than three weeks, and Fujimori's advantage proved to be one of the smallest in decades. Fujimori's key election promise is the fight against crime. In this, she relies on her father's legacy.
"All our energy will be focused on what we know how to do: [act] with a firm hand against crime," she stated.
The second round of elections, in which Fujimori, the candidate of the "Popular Force" party, competed against Roberto Sanchez, the candidate of the left-wing "Together for Peru" party, took place on June 7.
The National Office of Electoral Processes completed the ballot count only this Monday. According to its data, Fujimori received 9,223,396 votes (50.135%), and Sanchez received 9,173,755 (49.865%) votes.
The difference between them was 49,641 votes — one of the smallest margins in the history of presidential elections in Peru in recent decades.
The results must still be officially announced by the National Electoral Commission (JNE).
Keiko Fujimori has already tried three times to become president over the past 15 years and each time lost by a minimal margin. This time, it initially seemed that the situation would repeat itself: after 85% of the votes were counted in the second round, Sanchez was leading by a small margin.
According to him, the results showed "a significant advantage that underlines the will of the people for democracy and justice."
51-year-old Keiko Fujimori will become the first woman elected president of Peru, and the second woman to hold the position.
Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990-2000. He is known for his harsh fight against organized crime and rebels, which his supporters consider an achievement, and critics - a manifestation of authoritarianism and human rights violations.
At the end of his rule, a political crisis erupted in Peru, and Fujimori fled to Japan, from where he tried to resign by fax. Congress did not accept it and removed him from office. In 2003, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Fujimori on charges of murder, kidnapping, and crimes against humanity, including forced sterilization.
In 2005, he was arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2023, he was released due to health reasons.
In 2024, Keiko Fujimori announced that her father planned to participate in the 2026 elections, but two months later he died.
In Peru, there is a concept of antifujimorismo (anti-Fujimorism) — the refusal to support any person from the Fujimori family. This unites voters of various political views who vote not "for" but "against" Fujimori.
In the 2016 elections, many leftists supported Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to prevent Keiko Fujimori from winning. In 2021, centrists and liberals supported Marxist Pedro Castillo, who won by a minimal margin.
As experts note, anti-Fujimorism has weakened in recent years due to disillusionment with other governments and political instability. Peruvians are tired of crises and perceive Fujimori as the "lesser evil."
She focuses on security and the fight against crime, proposing tough measures, including military involvement in maintaining order, building mega-prisons, and deporting illegal immigrant criminals.
Peru indeed has security problems: the level of extortion and murders has reached 10.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to experts, the rise in support for such politicians is associated with a general societal weariness of instability and distrust of traditional political forces.
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