MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Anti establishment candidate leads in Peru

Peruvian nationalist presidential candidate Ollanta Humala for the first time is leading public opinion polls, 28%, but conservative candidate Lourdes Flores would anyhow defeat him in the event of a run off, 46% to 39% according to the Lima Sunday press.

According to the survey published in Lima's leading daily El Comercio, anti-establishment candidate Humala leads with 28%, followed by Flores 25% and two former presidents, Alan Garcia and Valentin Paniagua, with 15 and 10%.

Peru's presidential election is scheduled for April 9 but this is the first survey to cover the whole country and confirms the significant advance of anti-establishment candidate Humala who has risen from 5% a few months ago to 28%, pushing Ms. Flores to runner up with 25%. However in metropolitan Lima where half the Peruvian population lives Flores is ahead with 22.1% and Mr. Humala figures with 17.4%.

The survey conducted by Apoyo between January 11/13 included 1.600 interviews among prospective voters in thirty different cities covering all socio-economic ranks.

Another poll carried out by Lima's Engineering School University and published Sunday by daily La Republica shows that 56.6% of voters say they are certain whom they will vote for, while 43.4% remain undecided.

Sergio Cuentas, poll coordinator said that "although Flores has a greater average voter intention (percentage) in Lima, Humala is slowly consolidating himself in the lower, lower-middle and middle classes". In Peru statistics show that 52% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Flores' decline in the national survey is explained not by campaign errors committed by the candidate but because public opinion feels better identified with Humala, a former army officer who has no links whatsoever to previous governments, says Mr. Cuestas.

Humala's campaign platform consists of nationalistic and "anti-system" proposals, while Flores says that as president she would maintain a neo-liberal economic policy, albeit with an emphasis on social development programs.

Twenty-three candidates are running for president in the April election, but only Humala, Flores, Garcia and Paniagua figure with more than 10% electoral support.

Outgoing president is Alejandro Toledo whose popularity dropped dramatically during his mandate, --as low as 7%--, now stands at 13%, with a disapproval percentage in the range of 82.

Peruvian Congress faces a similar situation with a rejection rating of 88% and an insignificant 7% approval.

Ms. Flores who has closely followed electoral events in neighbouring Chile said that "good times" are in the making if she manages to win the Peruvian presidency.

"If as I expect I become president of Peru next April, I'll have the best of relations with elected Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and I have no doubts that with women presidents a new era, a different era will inevitably begin between Peru and Chile", emphasized Ma. Flores, who added that in spite of the polls "I'm convinced our message is the victory message".

Meantime candidate Humala said that if he becomes president he will try to integrate Peru and Bolivia, "unite them not only economically and socially but also politically".