Peru election: Sánchez's party calls for mobilization against Fujimori's virtual win

The leftist party Juntos por el Perú, led by presidential candidate Roberto Sánchez, has called for a large-scale mobilization in Lima on Friday. The party aims to "defend the popular vote" and protest the results of the second round of presidential elections, which show a virtual victory for the right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori. With 99% of the vote counted, Fujimori leads Sánchez by a narrow margin of 33,432 votes.

In a statement, Sánchez's party urged "the broadest unity" of democratic, political, social, and popular forces to strengthen the "Popular Patriotic Front." The planned "great national mobilization" expects delegations from across Peru to gather in Lima's Campo de Marte park. Prior to this, the campaign is organizing vigils and citizen protests nationwide on Wednesday.

Juntos por el Perú denounced what it called a "lack of transparency" by electoral bodies, changes to election rules mid-process, and "irregularities, nullity defects, and political-media maneuvers" that undermine electoral justice and the "sovereign will of the Peruvian people." The party asserts that "the citizen vote has been delegitimized" and a "clear corporate will contrary to the interests of the majorities" has emerged.

Roberto Sánchez himself took to social media, stating that "the right to democratic oversight and peaceful mobilization is a constitutional right." He emphasized that "only the People Save the People! A true democracy has high standards of citizenship and electoral justice!"