MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Growing number of Peruvians long for Fujimori

A majority of Peruvians 88,6%, disapprove President Alejandro Toledo's administration and 20,2% said they would vote for former president Alberto Fujimori if elections were held now, according to an opinion poll by the Peruvian Market Research Company, CPI published this week in Lima's press.

President Toledo's personal standing in May dropped to 7,7%, four points less than two months ago (11,1%) and if the tendency confirms he will again reach the lowest approval rate of 7,3% from last January.

In January presidential disapproval reached an all time record of 90,1%.

The opinion poll also revealed that 59% of Lima residents want the five year mandate (2001/2006) of Mr. Toledo cut short and presidential elections advanced, while 39,9% favour the president finishing his time in office.

The poll indicates that 32,9% of Lima residents long for the strong government of Mr. Fujimori whose ten years in office, (1990/2000) ended with the greatest corruption scandal ever in Peruvian history.

In 2000 Mr. Fujimori fled to Japan from where he sent his resignation which was rejected by Congress that decided to remove him from office for "moral incapacity" and banned him from all public political activity for ten years.

In his ten years Mr. Fujimori quashed a bloody guerrilla movement, straightened the economy, made peace with neighbours Ecuador and Chile and modified the constitution for his re-election. But his regime was also notorious for ignoring human rights, intolerance with opponents and mounting a dreaded informants' service.

The CPI poll interviewed 500 residents in Lima during the last weekend.