On Monday, Peru’s National Electoral Jury formally announced leftist politician Pedro Castillo as the winner of the June 6 run-off presidential election, declaring that he secured 44,263 more votes than right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. As a result, Castillo’s narrow victory, with 50.1% of votes, has now been certified, while his running-mate, Dina Boluarte has been declared as the vice president. The pair will be sworn into their positions on July 28.
Although Castillo was informally thought to be the winner of the election in June, Fujimori levelled allegations of fraud and electoral malpractice and irregularities. This time around, however, Fujimori has conceded defeat, despite continuing to maintain that the Peru Libre candidate’s victory is “illegitimate” and that thousands of votes were stolen from her. She also called on her supporters to begin a “new phase” of protests that ‘unite’ “social and political forces […] in the task of stopping Communism and defending press freedom.” This now represents Fujimori’s third failed bid at becoming president, following her attempts in 2011 and 2016.
Back in June, Fujimori requested electoral authorities to annul 200,000 votes and review another 300,000 votes that she had deemed ‘suspicious’. Her party pointed to the fact that in some rural areas she gathered zero votes, which they claim is statistically improbable. Given that there were so few votes separating the two candidates, electoral authorities refrained from declaring a winner until an investigation was completed.
Following Monday’s announcement, interim and incumbent President Francisco Sagasti welcomed Castillo’s victory and expressed hope that this will mark the “beginning of a new stage of reconciliation, consensus, and unity.”
Castillo, meanwhile, has urged Fujimori not to place “obstacles to move this country forward.”
The close margin of Castillo’s victory suggests that he has a lot of opposition to overcome. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why he has somewhat relaxed his bold vision to nationalise multinational mining and natural gas companies and instead proposed raising taxes on their profits. He says that this increased tax revenue will pave the way for greater spending on healthcare and education.
Castillo has also proposed redrafting the constitution, reforming the pension system, decentralising public universities, and creating a ministry of science and technology to increase innovation and industrialisation.
The new president now faces the challenge of steering the country’s economy, which has been battered by the pandemic, back on track. It is estimated that one-third of the population now lives in poverty.
Furthermore, as a result of Castillo’s victory, Fujimori is now staring at a corruption investigation that she could have otherwise delayed until the end of her term in office had she won the election. She has been accused of receiving over $17 million in illegal campaign funds for her presidential campaigns in 2011 and 2016, and of leading a criminal organisation. If convicted, she could be handed a 30-year jail term.
Leftist Castillo Formally Declared as Winner of Peru’s Election, Fujimori Concedes Defeat
Although Castillo was informally thought to be the winner of the election in June, Fujimori levelled allegations of fraud and electoral malpractice and irregularities.
July 21, 2021
IMAGE SOURCE: JOSÉ CARLOS ANGULO / AFPIncoming Peruvian President Pedro Castillo