The candidate of the radical left, Pedro Castillo, was proclaimed, Monday, July 19, the winner of the presidential election in Peru by the electoral authority, more than a month after the ballot of the second round which opposed him to the candidate of the populist right Keiko Fujimori. “I proclaim President of the Republic José Pedro Castillo Terrones”, said the president of the National Election Jury (JNE), Jorge Luis Salas, in a brief virtual ceremony.
The electoral authority responsible for examining the appeals thus confirmed the results delivered several weeks ago by the National Body for the Electoral Process (ONPE). At the end of the counting of 100% of the ballots, the ONPE had given Pedro Castillo, 51 years old, winner with 50.12% of the votes, against 49.87% of the votes to his rival, Keiko Fujimori, 46 years old . According to the results validated by the JNE, Mr. Castillo wins with 44,263 votes ahead of the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (in power from 1990 to 2000).
Keiko Fujimori admits defeat
Shortly before the announcement of the final result, Mr.me Fujimori, who had insinuated in early July that she would not recognize her competitor’s victory, did an about-face at a press conference. “Today, I am announcing that by fulfilling my commitments, my commitment to all Peruvians, (…) towards the international community, I will recognize the results, because this is what the law and the Constitution demand that I have sworn to defend ”, she said.
“I call on Peruvians not to give up and to implement a democratic defense” in case of Mr. Castillo’s government, also argued Keiko Fujimori, targeted by an investigation for alleged bribes during her presidential campaigns of 2011 and 2016, where she failed in the second round. She has already completed sixteen months of preventive detention and risks thirty years in prison.
The observation mission of the Organization of American States, the United States and the European Union considered that the vote in Peru had been free and transparent. Mr. Castillo will take office on July 28, the day the interim president, Francisco Sagasti’s term of office expires.