Alberto Fujimori to run for President of Peru in 2026, daughter announces

Monday, July 15th 2024 - 10:39 UTC

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Fujimori is within a fortnight of turning 86

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori will seek a third term in office in 2026, his daughter and former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori announced Sunday. Regarding her father's disenfranchisement given his numerous criminal convictions, Keiko insisted she would leave those matters up to their legal team. The octogenarian leader also faces several health issues.

“My father and I have talked and decided together that he will be the presidential candidate,” Keiko Fujimori wrote on social media.

Alberto Fujimori, who is two weeks away from turning 86, announced in May that he suffered from a malignant tongue tumor. He ruled Peru with an iron fist between 1990 and 2000, leading to the defeat of Maoist guerrillas Shining Path, but was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison for two massacres of civilians by an army squadron in the early 1990s.

He was incarcerated for 16 years for crimes against humanity but was released on Dec. 7, 2023, when a pardon granted to him by former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) was upheld by the country's Constitutional Court.

Keiko declined to be her father's running mate: “I would prefer not to be on that ticket, I believe that my role, as party chairwoman, will be to help him put together the teams.”

Fujimorism remains the main force in a fragmented Peruvian Congress, which it controls together with other right-wing groups.

According to leading Peruvian Law scholars, the pardon has not suppressed Alberto Fujimori's criminal responsibility and thus he is banned from running for president. The pardon has only spared him from serving the remainder of his sentence, the experts insisted. “I am not going to enter into the debate of the legal issues, I leave that debate to the lawyers and I imagine that this possibility will be clarified later on,” Keiko Fujimori argued. “There are several tests that my father is going to have to pass, undoubtedly the most important one is his health,” she added.

A few weeks ago, Alberto Fujimori also hurt his hip accident at his residence and is barely recovering from that incident. He is said to be in the process of walking again. “When we talk about politics, I see his will to live and I trust he will recover. He will be an excellent candidate, a great president,” Keiko also said in a recent interview.