MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru: more than 16 million to vote a new President

Peruvians will vote today in a presidential election that may be closer than has long been expected.

Recent opinion polls had given Alan Garcia, the populist politician who was president from 1985 to 1990, a comfortable lead of up to 20 percentage points over Ollanta Humala, his radical nationalist rival. But "simulation" surveys, in which respondents participate in a "mock vote", in the past week have suggested that the race may have a much closer finish.

In a meeting with foreign media yesterday, leading pollsters said the race appeared to have narrowed in the past week.

Alfredo Torres, director of Apoyo, the country's top pollster, warned of a "hidden vote" for Mr Humala simulation poll by his company on Thursday gave Mr Garcia 53 per cent and Mr Humala 47 per cent, similar to the results of a simulation poll published last Sunday.

The results suggest the race is still open, particularly given the traditional volatility of the Peruvian electorate and the number of voters who have not yet decided on a candidate.

Some 14 per cent of respondents in the Apoyo poll did not express a preference for either candidate. Of those, 6 per cent said they disapproved so strongly of both candidates that they would rather spoil their ballot papers, while the rest were still undecided.

About half of Peru's 25 million people are indigenous and the majority of the rest are of mixed race. Alejandro Toledo, who leaves office on July 28, was the country's first country president claiming indigenous descent.

But the greatest challenge for the winner will be to make Peruvians feel they have a government and state which represents them and promotes democratic rule.