The candidate for the presidency of Peru, Rafael López Aliaga, called for a repeat of the first round of the presidential elections on Thursday. Voting took place on Sunday, April 19, and in third place, Aliaga did not advance to the second round. TASR informs about it according to the AFP agency.
- Rafael López Aliaga is asking for a repeat of the first round of the presidential election in Peru.
- Keiko Fujimorová received seventeen percent of the votes and finished in first place.
- Logistical problems and the discovery of ticket boxes in Lima raised doubts.
- Aliaga organizes protests in Lima and publicly rejects the result of the first round.
- European Union observers have found no evidence to support allegations of electoral fraud.
The counting of 99.9 percent of the ballots shows that the difference between Sánchez, who was voted by 12 percent of voters, and the second-placed Roberto Aliago is just over 20,000 votes. Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimorová took first place with a majority of 17 percent.
The day of the presidential elections was accompanied by logistical problems in the capital. A slow counting of votes followed. Doubts were also raised by the discovery of several ballot boxes in one of the garbage containers in Lima. Aliaga had previously called for a repeat of the elections in Lima, where he was once mayor, but representatives of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) rejected his request.
Aliaga therefore held a demonstration in the capital on Thursday and promised his supporters that he would reject the result of the first round. According to him, JNE has until Sunday, May 17, to announce a repeat of the first round. On this day, he is going to announce the official results of the vote.
“The only way to defeat me was through dirty tricks and we will not recognize an illegitimate government,” Aliaga said. He clarified that his party will challenge the “fake list” of candidates for the second round compiled by the JNE.
Demonstrators and supporters of Aliago’s People’s Renewal Party with Peruvian flags arrived at the JNE headquarters in the historic center of Lima during the protest. “I came to protest against election fraud. They stole our votes,” said 45-year-old Margarita Vila.
AFP recalls that due to a delay in the delivery of election materials, more than 50,000 voters could not vote in the first round on April 12, and the elections were therefore extended by one day. Despite “serious problems”, a European Union monitoring mission said it had found no evidence to support “allegations of electoral fraud”.
