Candidates await result with Peru's presidential count on knife edge

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori is ahead in the official vote count for Peru's presidential run-off, holding a slight lead over the left-wing Roberto Sánchez, according to updated results released this Thursday.

With 98.22 percent of the tally sheets processed, Fujimori held 50.003 percent of the vote against Sánchez's 49.997 percent this Thursday, according to data from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) published on its website.

Boosted by votes from the United States and Japan, Fujimori, 51, leads Sánchez, 57, by just over 900 votes, with more than 18 million votes counted so far.

The electoral authority informed AFP that the final count "could take between two weeks or until the end of the month," depending on the challenges to the tally sheets that are registered. The slow pace of the scrutiny is standard for Peruvian regulations.

Furthermore, before a winner can be declared, challenged tally sheets containing approximately 480,000 votes must be reviewed, a process that could take days.

"We are going to wait for the final ONPE count before making a statement. I receive these new results with serenity and great gratitude," Keiko Fujimori told journalists at the door of her home.

The candidate called for "reflection and calm," while urging her opponent to keep his word to accept the popular decision once the recount is concluded. "I stand by the statement made by candidate Roberto Sánchez that he will respect the results," she noted.

From the Juntos por el Perú party, General Secretary Ernesto Zunini –Sánchez’s right-hand man – indicated that they were viewing the new partial results with "composure." The left-wing candidate's representative met early today with the European Union election observation mission.

The EU delegation noted that the run-off took place in a "peaceful and orderly" manner, despite a highly polarised campaign.

The run-off pitted the daughter of the late former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), representing the Fuerza Popular party, against Sánchez of Juntos por el Perú. Sánchez is the political heir to former leader Pedro Castillo, who remains imprisoned following a failed self-coup in 2022.

This is the fourth time Fujimori has competed for the presidency, while for Sánchez, it is his first bid. The winner will succeed interim president José María Balcázar on 28 July for a five-year term.

– TIMES/AFP