Conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori has secured victory in Peru’s presidential election, ending weeks of demonstrations, allegations of electoral fraud, and the scrutiny of disputed ballots in a closely contested race.
In the runoff on June 7, Fujimori captured 50.135% of the vote, narrowly outperforming her opponent, leftist congressman Roberto Sanchez, who garnered 49.865%. This thin margin translates to approximately 50,000 votes in her favor out of a total of 18 million ballots cast.
“Our aim is to identify and build on all successful practices, initiatives, and projects,” Fujimori stated at her party’s headquarters, flanked by her team, highlighting the importance of continuity in their operations.
She emphasized, “Today signifies the commencement of a new chapter for Peru—one characterized by accountability, dialogue, and impactful outcomes to rejuvenate trust in our institutions.”
Fujimori’s slim victory margin marks a dramatic turnaround from her narrow defeat in 2021, where she lost by about 45,000 votes to the then leftist President Pedro Castillo, who was later impeached and imprisoned for attempting a congressional dissolution in 2022.
Sanchez is widely seen as Castillo’s political heir and has said he will not recognise Fujimori’s government after claiming, without providing evidence, electoral fraud.
Sanchez, boosted by voters from Peru’s rural regions, led the race earlier in the count and also won votes cast within the country by a slim margin. He has led marches contesting the vote and filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights challenging the elections.
Fujimori was boosted by voters in the capital region of Lima and also led votes cast by overseas ballot by a wide margin, pushing her to victory.
The tight, drawn-out race has highlighted the country’s deep polarisation and political instability that led to the ousting of several presidents over the last decade.
A messy inheritance
When Fujimori assumes power on 28 July, she will be the 10th president since 2016. She will succeed interim President Jose Balcazar, who took over in February after a series of presidential dismissals over accusations of corruption or abuse of power.
Fujimori’s win reaffirms Latin America’s rightward shift, and other conservative leaders in the region, including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Chile’s Jose Antonio Kast and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, have already congratulated the president-elect.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio also congratulated Fujimori in a statement on Tuesday, saying that President Donald Trump’s administration looked forward to deepening cooperation on security, investment and trade.
Her victory was also welcomed by markets, which had been rattled by the prospect of a Sanchez win. On Thursday, Moody’s issued a report saying a Fujimori government will preserve policy continuity, bolster investor confidence and help the country sustain growth.
The report added that this could help unlock delayed mining projects in Peru, which is the world’s third-largest copper producer.
A divisive dynasty
Fujimori, 51, is the daughter of late President Alberto Fujimori, who governed the country with an iron fist from 1990 to 2000 and was credited with defeating Maoist insurgents and taming runaway hyperinflation.
But the Fujimoris are still a controversial dynasty in Peru. Alberto served 16 years in prison for human-rights abuses and Keiko spent years under investigation over campaign financing allegations, which were dropped last year. She was imprisoned multiple times between 2018 and 2020 during the investigation, spending nearly a year and a half in jail.
Fujimori will now be tasked with uniting a polarised nation with a fragmented Congress prone to ejecting presidents. The country also faces a vast economic divide between the capital of Lima and rural areas, where heavy protests and clashes with security forces killed over 60 people after Castillo was removed from office.
Those areas were also Sanchez’s bastion of support and his party, Together for Peru, holds the second-largest bloc in Congress, with Fujimori’s party holding the most seats.