Peru’s presidential election tightened further in the latest tally of votes on Tuesday as former investment banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s lead over Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a jailed ex-president, narrowed to 0.28 of a percentage point.
Ballots from Peruvians living abroad are still trickling in and will probably decide the election. An early tally of them suggested they would favor Kuczynski.
With 95.5 per cent of the ballots counted two days after Sunday’s election, Kuczynski won 50.14 per cent of valid votes compared with Fujimori’s 49.86 per cent, according to Peruvian electoral office ONPE. The difference was about 47,000 votes.
More ballots – 97 per cent – had been processed, but about 300,000 were being questioned due to lack of clarity and would be settled by local electoral panels.
Preliminary results on Sunday and quick counts of sample ballots by reputable polling firms had put Kuczynski ahead by about one percentage point.
With the results so close, Fujimori, who has largely been out of the public eye since Sunday, is not likely to accept defeat unless a final count determines it, a person close to the candidate said on condition of anonymity.
A full ballot count will probably not be finished until the weekend, ONPE head Mariano Cucho said on local television.
A week ago, Fujimori had been the favorite to win Sunday’s election. Kuczynski caught up with her in final opinion polls, though, as Peruvians weighed the legacy of her father, Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted of corruption and human rights abuse, and scandals involving her own close advisers.
Some Peruvians have fond memories of the elder Fujimori’s decade-long rule, however, as he is credited with defeating violent Shining Path guerillas and building rural schools and hospitals.
About a half-million ballots, mostly from Peruvians living in the United States and Europe, were still arriving, according to ONPE. A count of about a third of US votes showed Kuczynski 18 points ahead of Fujimori, and a smaller share of votes from Europe showed a similarly wide lead for him.
A small number of supporters of both candidates held peaceful vigils in front of the ONPE building late on Monday, holding candles and waving flags as they waited for new results.
Market reaction has been muted, as both candidates have promised investor-friendly policies in the mineral-rich Andean nation. – Reuters