Peru Presidential Election, Left-Wing Castillo Virtually Secures Victory... Fujimori Announces Contestation

All Objections Raised by Fujimori Side Dismissed
Final Results to Be Announced Next Week

Pedro Castillo [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The winner of Peru's presidential runoff election has been virtually decided just one month after the vote.

In this election, where left-leaning Free Peru Party's Pedro Castillo faced off against right-leaning Popular Force Party's Keiko Fujimori, Castillo's victory has been effectively confirmed.

According to major foreign news outlets on the 14th (local time), Peru's National Jury of Elections (JNE) dismissed all requests from Fujimori's side to invalidate votes.

As a result, Castillo, who led by a narrow margin in the runoff, is expected to win as is.

In the previous runoff, candidate Castillo led candidate Fujimori by a slim margin of only 44,000 votes.

Fujimori's camp raised allegations of election fraud, requesting a recount and invalidation of some votes, but these claims were not accepted.

Fujimori's Popular Force Party also announced plans to request invalidation of about 5,400 votes that have not yet been contested. However, even if this request is accepted, it would be insufficient to overturn the vote difference with Castillo.

Local news agencies Andina and AFP reported that the final election results are expected to be announced around the 20th.

The Peruvian government, as well as the United States, the European Union (EU), and the Organization of American States (OAS), have stated that this Peruvian presidential election was fair.

If the results are announced as scheduled on the 20th, candidate Castillo is expected to officially take office as president on the 28th.

Geiko Fujimori (center)
[Photo by Reuters]

In the runoff election held on the 6th of last month, after an extremely close count, candidate Castillo received 50.12% of the vote, defeating Fujimori by just over 44,000 votes.

The election jury had withheld announcing the winner while reviewing Fujimori's objections.

With all of Fujimori's objections dismissed, her defeat has become a foregone conclusion. However, Fujimori has already indicated that she will not accept the election results.

Accordingly, political turmoil is expected to continue for some time even after the final results are announced.

Fujimori, who is also the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori of Japanese descent, is currently indicted on corruption charges and could face a long prison sentence if she does not obtain presidential immunity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.