Left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez has conceded to Keiko Fujimori in Peru’s presidential race, days after the electoral authority declared her the victor in last month’s run-off. The statement on Monday caps an election season marred by logistical issues at polling sites, long vote counts and allegations of fraud.
Sanchez and his party said they “recognised that the National Elections Board had officially proclaimed the electoral results”. Sanchez had said in June he would not recognise a Fujimori presidency and would instead launch “a movement of popular and patriotic resistance”.
Fujimori and Sanchez progressed to the June 7 run-off after outpacing 33 other candidates in the April general election. In the final vote count, Fujimori defeated Sanchez by a razor-thin margin, winning about 9,223,000 votes to 9,173,000 for Sanchez.
Sanchez, a member of Peru’s Congress, had fostered support among rural and indigenous Peruvians, following closely in the footsteps of former president Pedro Castillo. He even wore the same style of wide-brimmed straw hat as Castillo on the campaign trail. He called for overhauling Peru’s constitution to grant greater recognition and autonomy to ethnic groups, and for state oversight of natural resources and higher taxes on the wealthy.
As the run-off vote count stretched on for weeks, the 57-year-old Sanchez repeatedly alleged voting irregularities and fraud. Election monitors countered the claims, saying no proof had emerged.
Fujimori ran on a tough-on-crime platform, but vowed to unite the country after her win. She was among several right-wing candidates supported by the administration of US President Donald Trump. The 51-year-old is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who died in 2024.
Peru has seen years of political churn, with Fujimori set to become Peru’s ninth president in 10 years when she takes office later this month. She begins amid a period of government transformation, with the country set to reconstitute its legislature into two bodies, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Source: www.aljazeera.com