By Marco Aquino and Lucinda Elliott
LIMA, May 15 (Reuters) – Peru’s leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez will face Keiko Fujimori in the June runoff after narrowly securing second place in April’s first‑round vote, official results showed Friday, with all votes tallied.
The month-long count led to allegations of fraud in the politically turbulent South American nation, notably from right-wing candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who closely trailed Sanchez for much of the counting process.
Fujimori, the daughter of late former President Alberto Fujimori, topped the fragmented field with 17.18% of the vote. This is her fourth presidential bid, which has revived a divisive family legacy in a country beset by political turmoil.
Sanchez, a congressman who is running with the backing of jailed former leftist President Pedro Castillo, took in 12.03%, narrowly ahead of Lopez Aliaga, the ultra-conservative former mayor of Lima, with 11.90%.
Sanchez had a near 21,210-vote lead over Lopez Aliaga.
“Today marks the starting point for a second round,” Sanchez told reporters on Friday while on the campaign trail in Huaura, northern Lima.
“There is an immense need for a broad democratic coalition,” he said, adding that he might announce his cabinet on Wednesday.
Fujimori, who was campaigning in northern Peru, thanked supporters for her first‑round lead and pledged to crack down on crime – a top voter concern, according to polls.
“What this country needs is order and security,” she said from La Libertad on Friday. “I swear to you that, with this strength I have as a mother, we are going to put an end to the scourge of crime in this country.”
‘BITTERLY POLARIZING’
The prolonged count since the first round held on April 12 prompted the resignation of the country’s top electoral official, who is now under investigation by the public prosecutor. European Union observers have said they found no concrete evidence of fraud.
Running for the left‑leaning Together for Peru party, Sanchez, 57, emerged as a surprise contender in a crowded first-round race, calling for a new constitution to establish a “plurinational” state in the major copper-producing country and courting disaffected rural and Indigenous voters.
Financial markets have reacted nervously to the swell in support for Sanchez, whose proposals include revisions to mining contracts. Those concerns have been compounded by Sanchez’s close association with Castillo, who gave his endorsement from prison.
Castillo was jailed on rebellion and conspiracy charges after a short-lived presidency that ended in a failed attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.
An April 26 Ipsos opinion poll put Fujimori and Sanchez in a tie for the runoff, with each projected to win 38% of the vote. Analysts pointed to the high level of rejection both candidates face.
“The second round may be bitterly polarizing,” said Eileen Gavin at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, noting that far more Peruvians voted against the 2026 presidential field than for it.
“Peruvians are actually crying out for more of a moderate, national unity government after a decade of political and social strife,” said Gavin.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Lucinda Elliott; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Cassandra Garrison and Deepa Babington)
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