Keiko Fujimori Elected as Peru's Ninth President in 10 Years

Conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori has been declared the winner of Peru’s presidential election following a weeks-long vote count that ended with an extremely narrow margin. Peru’s electoral office confirmed on Friday that Fujimori, the eldest daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, had won the second round of voting on 7 June. This victory marks her fourth bid for the presidency, after unsuccessful campaigns in 2011, 2016, and 2021. In a post on X following the official announcement, Fujimori thanked voters for their support and said Peru was entering a ‘new chapter’. She pledged to lead the transition with ‘humility and a deep sense of responsibility’. The announcement came days after the National Office of Electoral Processes released the final vote count, showing Fujimori’s party, Popular Force, ahead of left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez of the Together for Peru party. The margin of victory was just 49,641 votes out of approximately 18 million cast. Fujimori secured 50.13 percent of valid votes compared to Sánchez’s 49.86 percent. Fujimori, 51, will be sworn in as president on 28 July and is expected to serve a five-year term alongside Luis Fernando Galarreta as first vice president and Miguel Ángel Torres Morales as second vice president. She will become Peru’s ninth president in a decade, taking office after a period of prolonged political instability often linked to the legacy of her father, who was ousted in 2000 and later convicted on corruption, embezzlement, and human rights charges. His legacy remains deeply divisive following a controversial pardon in 2023. The result is expected to reshape Peru’s political landscape after one of the country’s tightest presidential elections in recent years. Sánchez had previously stated he would not recognise a Fujimori administration. After the final vote count was released, he alleged irregularities in overseas voting and said he would appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In declaring Fujimori’s victory, the National Election Jury stated that a review found no such inconsistencies in the voting and rejected the appeal filed by Together for Peru.