Peru Finally Seen Proclaiming Its New President Next Week
Peru Finally Seen Proclaiming Its New President Next Week
(Bloomberg) -- Peru may finally declare the winner of its June presidential election, ending six weeks of uncertainty amid revisions and allegations of fraud.
The proclamation could come next Wednesday, or even sooner if there are no more appeals, Alexandra Marallano, a spokesperson for the nation’s electoral court, said in an interview.
Barring dramatic changes, a rural union activist from a Marxist party, Pedro Castillo, is on track to win, after leading the vote count by a narrow margin of 50.1% to 49.9%. His opponent, Keiko Fujimori, is running low on options after electoral authorities this week rejected all her appeals of alleging fraud.
The U.S., and European Union also said the vote was clean. Fujimori has until Friday to make an appeal.
Fujimori’s lawyer, Julio Cesar Castiglioni, recently indicated in a TV interview that she will issue another appeal. She has already said that she won’t accept the result if Castillo is proclaimed the victor.
The next president of the nation of 32 million people will take office July 28.
Appeals
Fujimori has exhausted all the opportunities to allege fraud, but can still dispute the results if she believes the numbers have been tallied incorrectly, said Jorge Jauregui, a Lima-based lawyer specializing in electoral law.
Castillo, a teacher from the highlands with no previous experience of national politics, was virtually unknown six months ago, but successfully tapped voters’ anger with the political elite.
Castillo’s election initially spooked investors, but the nation’s bonds rallied after he appointed mainstream economists as advisers, and pledged to respect the central bank’s autonomy.
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