MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pedro Castillo ahead in Peruvian elections but results will take about a month to be known

“Change and struggle are just beginning,” said Castillo.

Ultra left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo of the Perú Libre party was surprisingly ahead on Monday morning after the first round of Peru's presidential elections, but the names of those advancing to the runoff will not be known for about a month, officials said.

 “Today the Peruvian people have just removed the blindfold. They have told us that political scientists, constitutionalists and scholars can lead a country; they have had enough time, tremendous space, decades, decades, and look how they leave the country” Castillo said. “Change and struggle are just beginning,” he added.

The radical leftist politician proposes to overthrow the Constitutional Court to replace the 1993 Constitution if he comes to power, to regulate the media, and to increase the budgets for education and health. In addition, he has openly stated his opposition to abortion, gender approach in schools, homosexual marriage, and euthanasia.

In any case, the names of the two candidates advancing to the runoff will not be known before the first week of Mayo, according to Jorge Luis Salas, of the National Elections Jury (JNE).

But for other seats at stake Sunday, final results will not be available before late May, Salas explained.

“It is a projection, but everything would be resolved, who goes on to the second round, the first week of May, and who goes definitively to Congress and the Andean Parliament, the last week of May,” Salas explained.

The head of the JNE recalled that the 2006 elections were on April 9 and the first round was finally resolved on May 5, taking 26 days to make a decision known. And the first round of the 2011 elections were held on April 10 and resolved on May 13, that is, 33 days later.

Meanwhile, Fuerza Popular's ultra far-wing Keiko Fujimori Higuchi, who has been projected to end up second, asked her supporters to wait “calmly and prudently” for the official results. In a video message broadcast on social networks, the daughter of the former Dictator Alberto Fujimori said she feels very excited about the opportunity that the Peruvian people are giving her “to continue in the race towards the second round,” although exit polls place her tied with Hernando de Soto of Avanza País at 11,1 % each.

The last available official results with 20.93% of the votes counted, released at 0.44 am Monday, local time were as follows:

1) Pedro Castillo (Perú Libre) 15,87%
2) Hernando de Soto (Avanza País) 14,27%
3) Rafael López Aliaga (Renovación Popular) 13,12%
4) Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular) 12,29%
5) Yonhy Lescano (Acción Popular) 8,96%
6) Verónika Mendoza (Juntos por el Perú) 8,00%
7) César Acuña (APP) 6,05%
8) George Forsyth (Victoria Nacional) 5,98%

Meanwhile, pollster Ipsos Perú projected at 1.34am Monday, local, the the following outcome:

1) Pedro Castillo (Perú Libre) 18,1%
2) Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular) 14,5%
3) Rafael López Aliaga (Renovación Popular) 12,2%
4) Hernando de Soto (Avanza País) 10,7%
5) Yonhy Lescano (Acción Popular) 9,8%
6) Verónika Mendoza (Juntos por el Perú) 7,9%
7) Daniel Urresti (Podemos Perú) 5,9%
8) George Forsyth (Victoria Nacional) 5,6%
9) César Acuña (APP) 5,5%
10) Julio Guzmán (Partido Morado) 2,1%
11) Alberto Beingolea (PPC) 1,9%
12) Daniel Salaverry (Somos Perú) 1,7%
13) Ollanta Humala (Partido Nacionalista) 1,5%
14) José Vega (UPP) 0,8%
15) Ciro Gálvez (RUNA) 0,7%
16) Marco Arana (Frente Amplio) 0,4%
17) Rafael Santos (PPS) 0,4%
18) Andrés Alcántara (Democracia Directa) 0,3%