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Peru leftist Castillo claims presidency as Fujimori challenges rival

Wednesday, 16 June 2021 9:13 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 16 June 2021 9:24 AM ]

Peruvian leftist presidential candidate Pedro Castillo gestures with arms raised, addressing his supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters in Lima on June 15, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Election-relations tensions continue in Peru. Leftist presidential candidate Pedro Castillo has claimed victory in the election before the announcement of the official results, and despite objections from his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori, who has pledged to continue to the end.

With the vote-counting process almost completed, results published on Tuesday showed Castillo was 44,058 votes ahead of Fujimori.

Un nuevo tiempo se ha iniciado. Millones de peruanos/as se han alzado en defensa de su dignidad y justicia. Gracias a los pueblos de todo el Perú que desde su diversidad y fuerza histórica me han brindado su confianza. Mi gobierno se deberá a toda la ciudadanía.#PalabraDeMaestro pic.twitter.com/sOt6GResPI
— Pedro Castillo Terrones (@PedroCastilloTe) June 15, 2021

"A new time has begun," Castillo wrote in a post on Twitter, alongside a picture of himself with arms raised, the word 'President' in large font and his campaign slogan: "No more poor in a rich country."

In an address to his supporters from his campaign headquarters in the Peruvian capital, Castillo called on the election jury to stop prolonging the vote review and announce the final results.

Accordingly, Castillo has 50.125 percent of the votes, while Fujimori, who is the eldest daughter of imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori, has bagged 49.875 percent.

Meanwhile, addressing her supporters at a rally in downtown Lima on Tuesday, Fujimori vowed to continue fighting till the end.

Tight race for presidency: Fraud claims surface amid ballot counting in Peru

Peru’s conservative candidate, Keiko Fujimori, has accused her rival of election fraud as he took a lead in a runoff election.

Fujimori, who has made allegations of election fraud and irregularities, has lodged complaints to get some 200,000 votes for Castillo annulled.

She expressed hope that the election results would flip in her favor once ballots that her party is seeking to annul, are checked.

In a video posted on social media on Monday, Fujimori claimed that her gravest concern was “about the defense of democracy, freedom and the rule of law” in Peru.

International and local observers monitoring the presidential election in Peru, however, say there is no proof to support Fujimori’s fraud accusations against Castillo, concluding that the Latin American nation held a clean and transparent presidential election.

Castillo, a 51-year-old former schoolteacher, was little known just a few months before the election.

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