Photo Finish in Peru’s Second Round Presidential Election

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On June 5, 2016 Peruvians voted in the runoff presidential election between Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (known as “PPK,” as is his party, Peruanos Por el Kambio) and Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular or FP.  Fujimori came out on top in the first round with 39.85% of the vote.  And while the majority of Peruvians rejected the daughter of Alberto Fujimori (Peru’s elected president turned strongman who ruled from 1990 to 2000), they were slow to coalesce around her challenger.  Because of the razor thin margin, Peruvians had to wait several days for the final tally, which put PPK just barely over the 50% mark.  The election pointed to a sharply divided country that had to choose between very similar flavors on the Right, whose differences were subtle or slight. Both PPK and “Keiko” (as she is widely known) are “Neoliberal” and business friendly. Yet the dramatic faceoff was driven by the clash between the forces of Fujimorismo and those of Anti-Fujimorismo. And while Anti-Fujimorismo is clearly the stronger current, it is also disjointed. The forces on the Left, which are decidedly Anti-Fujimorista, were underwhelmed by PPK (who edged out Verónica Mendoza, the candidate of the broad Leftist coalition in the first round), and expressed their displeasure with a high degree of voter abstention.  In the aftermath pundits pointed to the probable weakness of the incoming administration, given the Fujimorista control of the legislature, as well as a probable economic slowdown on the horizon.  They also pondered the collapse of structured political parties, the weakness of political institutions, and the role of the Left.

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