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As Peru gears up for its presidential election this Sunday, recent polls suggest that Keiko Fujimori, a conservative former first lady and senator, is poised to lead the first round of voting.
Peru, a nation that has seen nine presidents in the past decade, will be conducting both presidential and legislative elections on April 12. This marks the first such event since 2021. The elections follow a tumultuous period of leadership changes, starting with the impeachment of Marxist ex-President Pedro Castillo in December 2022, followed by the removal of Dina Boluarte in October 2025, and the ousting of interim President Jose Jerí in February.
Currently, José María Balcázar, a Marxist lawmaker known for his controversial stance on child marriage, serves as the interim president after Jerí’s departure. Balcázar is anticipated to be replaced when the newly elected president assumes office on July 28. During his tenure, he is embroiled in various legal battles, including a defamation trial originally set for March. This trial has been postponed to August, after Balcázar’s term as both president and congressman concludes.
The last Peruvian leader to complete a full term was Ollanta Humala, a leftist former president, whose administration ended in 2016. Humala, along with his wife Nadine Heredia, is currently serving a 15-year sentence due to corruption convictions in April 2025.
This Sunday’s election will see a crowded field of 35 candidates representing a wide political spectrum. Due to the sheer number of contenders, no polls predict that any single candidate will secure the necessary 50% majority to win outright in the first round. Should this occur, a runoff election between the top two candidates is planned for Sunday, June 7.
As per the terms of Peru’s electoral law, polling firms released their final round of poll on Sunday, a week before the election, as local laws forbid anyone from publishing electoral-related surveys on the week of the election. A period of electoral silence in Peru is presently in place as of Monday.
According to the results from Peru’s three main polling firms — all three conducted between April 1-6 — Keiko Fujimori has virtually secured her spot in the prospective June runoff. Datum International’s survey found that Fujimori is leading the 35-candidate race with 14.5 percent of respondents expressing their intention to vote for her, followed by Peruvian comedian and television host Carlos Alvarez in second place, with 10.9 percent. Per Datum’s survey, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, the conservative former major of Lima, is in third place with 9.9 percent support. Another 16.8 percent of respondents expressed that they are undecided.
Fujimori, 50, is the eldest daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, a strongman conservative who ruled Peru between 1990 to 2000 and who oversaw the crushing of the communist insurgency group Shinning Path in the 1990s. Former President Fujimori had served roughly half of a 25-year prison sentence on human rights abuses by the time he was released on humanitarian grounds in 2023. He passed away in September 2024 following a lengthy battle with cancer. Keiko served as first lady of Peru after her parents divorced.
The 2026 presidential election in Peru marks the fourth time Keiko Fujimori has run for the office, following three consecutive narrow losses in 2011, 2016, and 2021. If elected president, Fujimori and her Popular Force party vowed to enact a government based on “order, economy, and social” pillars. She has also promised an economic recovery program for Peru reminiscent of the one implemented by her father in the 1990s, seeking to “restore confidence” in the country through strong government intervention, deregulation, technological innovation, fiscal discipline, and a social market approach. Fujimori has also vowed a tough stance against crime and corruption.
Similar survey results showing Fujimori in the lead, albeit with slightly different percentages across all top candidates, were presented by polling firm Ipsos in its final poll. On Sunday, the Peruvian Market Research Company (CPI) presented the results of its survey to the local broadcaster RPP. Much like Datum International and Ipsos, CPI found that Fujimori is leading the race, but according to its results, López Aliaga is in second place and Álvarez is in third.
In addition to choosing one of the 35 presidential candidates, Peruvian voters will also choose 30 national-level senators and 130 congressmen, and five members of the regional Andean Parliament, while residents of Lima’s metropolitan area and Peruvians abroad will choose their regional Senators. According to Peru’s ONPE electoral authority, 27 million voters are eligible to participate on Sunday. Voters must present their National Identity Card to be able to cast a vote. Voting in Peru is compulsory unless the voter is at least 70 years old.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.