Peru ends electoral rift, Castillo pledges stability

Peru's electoral authority certified the victory of rural schoolteacher Pedro Castillo of the leftist Peru Libre party, ending more than 40 days of political uncertainty barely a week before the presidential inauguration.

Castillo squeaked past his conservative rival Keiko Fujimori in a tense 6 June run-off election, 50.1pc to her 49.9pc, according to the official result.

The long wait means Castillo has just eight days to name a cabinet and undertake a transition ahead of the 28 July handover from interim president Francisco Sagasti.

Castillo was conciliatory in first address as president-elect last night, calling on the opposition to unite to lift Peru out of its economic and political crisis and battle the Covid-19 pandemic. He pledged to work within the existing democratic framework and not import any model.

"Together with you, we reject any attempt to bring in a model from another country. Peruvians can develop a true development and economic model, guaranteeing legal and economic stability. We will be respectful of institutions and the constitution," he said.

The vociferous Fujimori campaign had filed multiple judicial challenges to the vote, alleging fraud and delaying the results as her supporters mounted demonstrations. The final challenges were resolved shortly before the National Election Board confirmed Castillo's victory yesterday.

Fujimori said yesterday she would respect the electoral results, but still called Castillo's victory illegitimate and vowed to fight on.

Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer, has been plagued by political turmoil for years. In one week last November, the country had three presidents.

The economy shrank by 11pc last year and Peru leads the world in per capita Covid-19 deaths. The economy is now rebounding sharply, notching 19.7pc growth in the first five months of the year compared to 2020, and the Covid-19 vaccination program is in full swing.

Castillo's opponents, especially in the business community, fear he will nationalize strategic sectors such as mines and natural gas, pointing to his party's nationalist platform that also calls for reviewing free trade agreements. Fujimori exploited such sentiments, hosting Venezuela's right-wing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez during the campaign to warn against communism.

Castillo has repeatedly denied the far-left ideological label, but he has also insisted that Peru needs a constituent assembly to rewrite the country's 1993 constitution, especially its pro-market economic chapter.

Opponents say such assemblies have helped other Latin American left-wing leaders such as Venezuela's late president Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro to remain in power. Castillo's camp counters that neighboring Chile, with a center-right government, has elected a constituent assembly and is currently rewriting its constitution.

By Lucien Chauvin