MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru's Sánchez calls a protest against the result that makes Fujimori the virtual winner

According to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Fujimori obtains 50.12% of the vote against Sánchez's 49.88%

Left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez called a protest in Lima for Friday against the result of Peru's presidential runoff, which makes right-wing Keiko Fujimori the virtual winner, as the electoral justice was due to decide on the challenges filed by his party. With 99.51% of the tally sheets counted, Fujimori leads Sánchez by some 44,101 votes, though no winner has yet been proclaimed.

The march, called by Juntos por el Perú (JPP) “in defense of the popular vote,” will be attended by Sánchez himself. The Lima municipality limited vehicle access to the rally area. JPP challenged 2,398 polling tables in Lima and the United States —where the vote favored Fujimori— and filed a total of 32 appeals before the Special Electoral Juries, which were due to decide Friday whether to admit them; if the differences persist, a new recount in a public audience would follow.

According to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Fujimori obtains 50.12% of the vote against Sánchez's 49.88%. The overseas vote, where the Fuerza Popular candidate won by close to 79,000 ballots, proved decisive in tipping a result that within the country had favored Sánchez, strong in the rural areas of the interior. The difference, of just 0.24 points, reflects the electorate's extreme polarization.

Sánchez said his complaint seeks guarantees: “We demand respect and transparency,” he stated. Electoral expert Silvia Guevara estimated, by contrast, that the courts would not side with JPP, considering its petitions “unfounded” and that accepting them would set a precedent for future elections. Fujimori, who spent a few days in the United States, has kept a low profile; speaking in her place, Fuerza Popular's secretary general, Luis Galarreta, said he was awaiting the definitive results “with prudence” and voiced his fear that the mobilization is a sign that JPP does not want to recognize its defeat.

The first round was held on April 12, with 35 candidates. The outcome mirrors that of 2021: then it was Fujimori who lost by a narrow margin to Pedro Castillo and alleged fraud, with the challenge of hundreds of polling tables, without those claims prospering. The National Jury of Elections has clarified that it will not issue the general proclamation document until the process concludes, so the name of Peru's next president is not yet official.