Pedro Castillo is ahead of Keiko Fujimori after an expert called it “one of the most tense elections in the country.”
Peruvians are still waiting for their final result National Presidential Election, Because left-wing union leader Pedro Castillo (Pedro Castillo) maintained a small advantage over right-wing Fujimori Keiko a few days after a severely polarized vote.
On Wednesday afternoon, the vote count was 99.8%, Castillo’s approval rate was 50.19%, and Fujimori’s approval rate was 49.8%.
Sunday’s runoff was held amidst years of political instability in Peru, and Peru is also struggling to cope with the surge COVID-19 infection and death And the economic recession associated with the pandemic.
Of the 17.4 million valid votes counted, Castillo leads by more than 67,000, but as the votes are still being counted and both sides are questioning the votes, the final official results may take several days to be announced.
This Count slowed down With votes sent from abroad and from the more remote rural areas of Peru to the capital Lima-this is the stronghold of support for Castillo.
Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, has made unconfirmed allegations that Castillo’s supporters tried to steal votes, and her team has stated that it plans to challenge the results legally.
Castillo’s party strongly denied this claim, and election observers, including the ONPE electoral agency and the Organization of American States, stated that the vote was clean.
On Wednesday, the Peruvian military also pledged in a statement to “respect the will of the people expressed in the ballot box” because of social media calls for the armed forces to prevent Castillo from taking power.
“In Peru, like in any democratic country, the results of elections must be respected,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Department of Human Rights Watch. Tweet Wednesday night.
Vivanco stated that any accusation of fraud must be supported by “serious evidence”, while international human rights law requires that “every vote must be counted and respected.”
Hundreds of voters on both sides took to the streets to protest for their candidates, mostly peacefully, sometimes with musicians and dancers.
Both candidates previously agreed to respect the voting results.
Whoever wins will take over an economy that has been hit hard by COVID-19 and the world economy. Coronavirus death rate per capita is highestOfficial data show that 2 million Peruvians were unemployed during the pandemic and nearly one-third are now living in poverty.
“At this point, Fujimori is unlikely to surpass Castillo,” David Surmont, professor of sociology at the Catholic University of Peru and former head of the voting department, told Reuters.
“This is one of the strictest elections in the country,” he added. “The profit margin may be constantly changing, but I think Castillo will be the winner.”
Castillo said on Wednesday that party observers believed his victory was a foregone conclusion.
“In the name of the Peruvian people,” he thanked the “Embassies and governments of Latin America and other countries” for sending messages congratulating him on his “victory”.
No government officially recognized Castillo’s victory, despite the message of “Congratulations on this victory” by former Bolivian President Evo Morales.
