Elections in Peru: Votes from abroad begin to be counted

ONPE (Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes) began receiving results from polling stations abroad. This group could be decisive, given the small difference between Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez.

The first 12 polling stations are in Argentina. There, the right-wing candidate, who hopes to gain an advantage with the votes of Peruvians living abroad, received 56.9% of the votes.

Fujimori and Sánchez have chosen to exercise caution as the fierce dispute unfolds, not disclosing their agenda and staying at home.

Political crisis
Analysts say the election reflects a deep crisis of political legitimacy. Peru will elect its ninth president in a decade after a series of leaders were removed from office or resigned amid corruption scandals. Four former presidents are currently in prison.

"This is an election without solid leadership, with great distrust in the electoral system", explained political analyst Jeffrey Radzinsky, noting that "the figure of the President of the Republic has lost weight in the collective imagination".

Urpi Torrado, CEO of polling firm Datum Internacional, said much of the voting is being driven by rejection rather than enthusiasm, with many Peruvians choosing between what they consider the least worst.

"There are no defined prospects for any of the candidates", she analyzed.

Fujimori, running for president for the fourth time, campaigned on a hard-line anti-crime platform, evoking her late father's legacy.

Sánchez, political heir to former left-wing president Pedro Castillo, currently in prison, has moderated his economic reform proposals in an attempt to attract centrist voters and reassure investors.

Whoever is elected will inherit a fragmented Congress, rising crime rates and a nation where nearly half of citizens believe the next president will also not complete his five-year term.

*with information from CNN Spanish

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Source: CNN