Peru presidential election shows right-wing Keiko Fujimori in narrow lead

Right‑wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has claimed victory in the first round of Peru’s presidential and legislative elections, tipping her to advance to a second-round run-off.

Exit polls and partial counts on Monday showed the 50-year-old daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori ahead, but well short of the 50 percent needed to win outright.

There was a statistical tie for second place and a spot in the two-person run-off, with far-right candidate Rafael “Porky” Lopez Aliaga also polling strongly.

Some 27 million Peruvians voted on Sunday to pick the country’s ninth leader in a decade.

With 35 candidates on the presidential ballot, Peruvians had the choice of a wide range of potential leaders, including a comedian, a media baron, a political dynasty heiress, and a hard‑line ex‑mayor who likens himself to a cartoon pig.

An early exit ⁠poll by Ipsos Peru had shown Fujimori leading the race with 16.6 percent, followed by left-wing candidate Roberto ‌Sanchez with 12.1 percent, and centre-leftist Ricardo Belmont with 11.8 percent.

If no candidate ⁠clears the 50 percent threshold, ⁠the two most-voted-for ⁠candidates would ⁠advance to a second round, scheduled for June 7.

Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) said on Monday it would reopen some polling stations after logistical failures prevented about 63,000 people from voting due to a lack of ballots, ballot boxes and other voting materials.

Logistical problems kept more than a dozen polling stations closed on Sunday, the ONPE said.

Amid claims of fraud, election authorities said the extension was needed to protect voters’ right to vote.

National Elections Board General Secretary Yessica Elisa Clavijo Chipoco said some polling centres would be open until 6pm local time (23:00 GMT) on Monday.

The authority did not say how many polling stations would reopen, but stated that it applied to those polling places where citizens had been unable to exercise their right to vote on Sunday.

Since 2018, Peru has seen eight presidents, with a high turnover rate marred by impeachments and corruption scandals, leading to voter disillusionment with weak governments.

“Peru is a mess, and there’s no candidate worth voting for,” Gloria Padilla, a fruit seller in the capital, Lima, told the Reuters news agency.

Clothing merchant Maria Fernandez, 56, shared the same sentiment.

“I wouldn’t vote for anyone. I’m so disappointed with everyone in power,” Fernandez told the AFP news agency. “We’ve been governed by nothing but corrupt, thieving scoundrels,” she added.

This is the fourth presidential bid for Fujimori, who reached the run-off in all three previous races.

While Fujimori has taken the position of guarantor of order and economic stability, her candidacy remains polarising due to her family legacy. Her father, Alberto Fujimori, was convicted of human rights abuses and corruption before he died in 2024.

On the eve of the election, Fujimori told AFP that she would “restore order” in her first 100 days if she were to win, sending members of the army to jail, deporting undocumented migrants and strengthening security at the border.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Belmont – a former mayor of Lima, running for the centre-left Civic Party Obras – was polling in second place.

Popular comedian Carlos Alvarez campaigned on a platform of being tough on crime, as Peru’s homicide rate has more than doubled in the past decade.