Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez advance to Peru presidential run-off

Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sánchez will face off in Peru's presidential run-off on June 7, according to the final vote count released Sunday.

The daughter of late former president Alberto Fujimori won the first round on April 12 with 17.1 percent of the vote, followed by Sánchez with 12 percent, the National Jury of Elections (JNE) announced.

Ultraconservative Rafael López Aliaga finished in third place with 11.9 percent, losing to Sanchez by some 21,200 votes.

The first round was marked by delays in the delivery of electoral materials in the capital Lima, with authorities having to reopen some polling stations for a second day.

Still, while the European Union's election observation mission noted problems in how the vote was conducted, it gave its seal of approval.

López Aliaga meanwhile refused to recognise the results.

"We will immediately challenge this grave crime of treason against the homeland," the former Lima mayor said on X. "We will not accept results born of fraud and corruption." 

The upcoming run-off is expected to mirror the deeply polarised second round of 2021, when Fujimori faced leftist candidate Pedro Castillo, who went on to serve as president before being ousted in December 2022.

This will be the fourth time Fujimori, 50, is running for president.

For Sánchez, a 57-year-old former trade minister under Castillo, this is his third bid for the office.

The two candidates will compete for the presidency against a backdrop of profound political instability, with Peru having cycled through eight presidents since 2016.

The majority were either removed from office or stepped down to avoid a similar fate over corruption accusations.

Peru is also battling a deepening security crisis, fuelled by a sharp rise in organised crime.

Sánchez begins his run-off campaign embroiled in legal troubles. 

Prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of five years and four months against him for allegedly providing false information to the electoral authority regarding campaign contributions between 2018 and 2020.

– TIMES/AFP