Fujimori obtained 50.13% of the votes, against the 49.86% achieved by his left-wing rival, Roberto Sánchez
Peru’s right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori was officially declared the winner of the second round by the electoral authority this Monday, three weeks after the vote.
Fujimori obtained 50.13% of the votes, against the 49.86% achieved by his left-wing rival, Roberto Sánchez, according to the final results published on the website of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE).
This was the third consecutive presidential election in Peru that was decided by less than 50,000 votes.
On June 26, the then likely winner of the presidential elections in Peru declared that it was necessary to focus on “the next five years” of government, in addition to calling for unity among Peruvians.
The right-wing candidate assured that her objective is to “make the State work again” and provide basic services to residents of neighborhoods such as Villa María del Triunfo and Mariátegui, south of the capital, Lima, which she visited on Thursday.
“What we are going to do is recover the streets so that we can go out safely, so that our children receive a good breakfast at school, so that they have their school uniforms, so that they can learn and have opportunities”, said the leader of the Força Popular party.
Fujimori also expressed gratitude for supporters’ participation as party representatives at voting tables in the presidential runoff, which took place on June 7, and said it allowed supervision of voting and counting.
“Many of you helped us in this civic crusade, participating voluntarily to defend democracy”, declared the daughter and political heir of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).
“What we must do now is build bridges, embrace each other again and work together for the unity of all Peruvians. We will carry out projects, build schools and work together for peace, order and the development of our country”, he added.
The electoral commission had indicated on Thursday that the proclamation of the winner of the second round would take place on July 3, the date on which it expected to conclude the judgment of the appeals and the preliminary proclamation by special electoral juries across the country.
On Wednesday, Sánchez declared that he will appeal to Peru’s electoral commission the rejection of the request to cancel votes abroad in the second round.
Sánchez denounced what he called “ongoing fraud” and stated that he will not recognize Keiko Fujimori as the winner.
According to him, administrative irregularities and irregularities in the conservation of electoral material would have affected the vote outside the country, which represents around 300 thousand votes and largely benefited the rival.
However, the electoral observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Peru reiterated on Wednesday that it did not observe any irregularities in the counting of votes in the second round of the presidential elections, neither inside nor outside the Andean country.
A European Union mission also considered that the second round took place in a “calm and orderly” manner, despite a strongly polarized campaign.
