Presidential in Peru: results still pending, Keiko Fujimori threatened with prison
Right-wing Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori in Lima, June 10, 2021. AP - Martin Mejia
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5 mins
The official results of the Peruvian presidential election could be delayed several days.
The radical left candidate Pedro Castillo considers himself the winner of the ballot, while his right-wing rival, Keiko Fujimori, is threatened with return to prison.
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Thursday evening June 10,
Pedro Castillo
was credited with 50.20% of the vote and his rival of the populist right Keiko Fujimori with 49.80%, a difference of 69,546 votes, according to the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) .
But Keiko Fujimori is not giving up.
She challenges the advance of her rival and demanded Wednesday the invalidation of some 200,000 ballots, from 802 polling stations, before the National Electoral Jury (JNE).
She had denounced Monday, the day after the second round, "
irregularities
", "
signs of fraud
" and "
a clear intention to sabotage the will of the people
".
A defeat would deprive her of presidential immunity as new threats of imprisonment hang over her. In early March, thirty years in prison were required against her by the prosecution and 22 years against her husband Mark Vito Villanella, as part of the investigation into the
Odebrecht scandal
, named after the Brazilian construction giant who admitted to having paid bribes to many Latin American leaders. Two former Peruvian presidents have been implicated in this scandal:
Alejandro Toledo
and
Alan Garcia
who committed suicide in April 2019.
Thursday, the prosecutor in charge of the case, José Domingo Pérez, demanded that the conditional freedom enjoyed by the candidate since May 2020 be "
revoked
".
Keiko Fujimori has already spent 16 months in
pre-trial detention
in this case for illicit financing of his past presidential campaigns.
"There is no fear that this [request for] preventive prison will materialize," however assured the right-wing candidate on Thursday.
►
To listen: Peru: "the end of the political crisis is not possible in the short term"
Revision of disputed bulletins
The National Electoral Jury (JNE) did not rule on Keiko Fujimori's request for annulment, but nonetheless began the slow process of revising the disputed ballots, which it said could take several days. before the announcement of the result.
For the time being, neither the electoral authorities, nor the international observation missions, have reported any fraud.
JNE President Jorge Luis Salas, for his part, said he was surprised at Keiko Fujimori's request to invalidate the results in more than 800 polling stations.
He recalled that during the last elections in 2016, "
only 29 polling stations had been called into question
".
Rumors of military conspiracy
Cardinal Pedro Barreto on Thursday called "
irresponsible
" actions calling into question the electoral process and called on the candidates to accept "
the will of the people
".
The Peruvian armed forces on Wednesday urged "
all Peruvians to respect the results of the electoral process
" and pledged "
to respect the will of the citizens expressed at the ballot box
".
The Peruvian navy also denied Thursday any suggestion of conspiracy after the broadcast of an audio tape suggesting that a conspiracy of naval officers against "
constitutional order
" was in preparation.
Bolsonaro: "
A miracle could reverse the trend
"
Without waiting for the official result, which keeps the country under tension, Argentinian center-left president Alberto Fernandez surprised by congratulating Pedro Castillo, the “
elected president of Peru
”.
This reaction earned Argentina a "
protest note
" from the Peruvian government, delivered to the Argentine ambassador in Lima.
Nicaragua, through its vice-president and government spokesperson, Rosario Murillo, also congratulated Pedro Castillo on his “
victory
”, as did Bolivian President Luis Arce on Twitter.
Former Bolivian Presidents Evo Morales and Brazilian Lula da Silva also sent him their congratulations.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for his part regretted having "
lost
" Peru and estimated that only "
a miracle could reverse the trend
".
Important pronunciamiento of 17 expresidentes por la democracia latinoamericana.
The elección no ha terminado aún.
Seguiremos defendiendo el legítimo derecho of millions of peruanos hasta el último voto.
https://t.co/sUf1tvTSkZ
- Keiko Fujimori (@KeikoFujimori) June 10, 2021
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To read also: Presidential in Peru: citizen vigils to "defend democracy"
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