Keiko Fujimori secures irreversible lead, poised to become Peru's next president

Keiko Fujimori has achieved an irreversible lead in Peru's presidential election, paving the way for her to become the country's next president. After 16 days of vote counting that kept Peru and the region in suspense, Fujimori secured a decisive advantage on Tuesday night over leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez. This victory in one of Latin America's most closely contested elections in recent history signals the return of Fujimorismo to power, more than two decades after the fall of former President Alberto Fujimori, whose government was marked by authoritarianism and corruption.

With 99.86% of the ballots tallied, Fujimori garnered 50.118% of the votes compared to Sánchez's 49.882%, according to data from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE). Fujimori leads Sánchez by just over 43,000 votes, with more than 19 million votes counted. The difference is now irreversible, as only 39,300 votes from 131 electoral acts remain.

Fujimori's imminent victory confirms a rightward shift in Latin America, following the election of Abelardo de la Espriella as Colombia's new president and joining other conservative or liberal leaders who have made strong promises to curb a wave of citizen insecurity in the region. Sánchez had denounced an electoral "fraud" on Tuesday without providing evidence, stating he would not recognize a potential Fujimori government, which could prolong a political crisis in the country that has seen eight presidents since 2018 due to resignations or dismissals.

Fujimori did not respond to her rival's claims, but the secretary-general of her party and vice-presidential running mate, Luis Galarreta, called Sánchez's position "undemocratic." The National Elections Jury rejected Sánchez's request to annul thousands of votes from abroad, which largely favored Fujimori, citing alleged irregularities. The leftist candidate has called his supporters to protest the process. The electoral authority plans to officially proclaim the winner by mid-July. Fujimori, who would be the first woman to hold the presidency in Peru through direct election, has lost three previous runoffs, including a narrow defeat in 2021 by Pedro Castillo.