Peru to elect ninth president in a decade amid tensions, skepticism
Lleft-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez and right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori pose during a presidential debate in Lima, Peru, last weekend. This was the only debate between Fujimori and Sanchez before the decisive election scheduled for Sunday. Photo by Paolo Aguilar/EPA
June 6 (UPI) — Peru will choose its next president Sunday in a runoff election between Keiko Fujimori, leader of the right-wing Popular Force party, and Roberto Sánchez, candidate of the leftist coalition Together for Peru.
Nearly 28 million Peruvians are eligible to vote for what will be the country’s ninth president in just 10 years, a figure that reflects Peru’s deep institutional crisis and political fragmentation.
Recent polls show Sánchez and Fujimori in a statistical tie, meaning the final outcome could depend on undecided voters and the share of blank ballots.
For many observers, the central question is not only who will win the presidency, but whether Peru can break the cycle of political instability that has defined the past decade.
Fujimori’s candidacy once again places Fujimorismo at the center of Peruvian politics. The daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori remains one of the country’s most influential and polarizing political figures. Sunday’s vote marks her fourth consecutive attempt to win the presidency in a runoff election.
Sánchez, meanwhile, is a far less familiar figure outside Peru. His campaign has evolved throughout the race and has sought to appeal to supporters of former President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office in 2022 after attempting to dissolve Congress.
Fujimori maintains a strong advantage in Lima, while Sánchez dominates much of the country’s interior, particularly in the Andean regions.
The election is taking place amid growing public frustration with Peru’s political system.
Beyond the traditional divide between Fujimorismo and anti-Fujimorismo that has shaped much of Peru’s politics over the past two decades, several analysts argue that the country’s deeper problem is a broader crisis of political representation.
Luis Lira, a researcher at the International Affairs Observatory at Finis Terrae University in Chile, said Peru has become one of the clearest examples of a “democracy without parties,” where political organizations have lost their ability to channel voter demands and have been replaced by highly personalized leadership.
“The presence of two candidates viewed as strongmen demonstrates the deterioration of political parties,” Lira told UPI.
Raúl La Torre, a Peruvian academic and professor at the University of the Andes in Chile, offered a similar assessment.
According to La Torre, Peru enters the runoff burdened by a representation crisis that has deepened over the past decade. Political parties remain weak, Congress continues to suffer from low public trust and the gap between citizens and political elites continues to widen.
Carlos Escaffi, founder of consulting firm Relaxiona Internacional, said the Fujimorismo versus anti-Fujimorismo divide remains relevant, but is no longer sufficient to explain voting behavior.
Issues such as public security, informal employment, economic opportunity and growing rejection of the traditional political class now play a larger role in shaping voter preferences, he said.
“The demand for order, security and concrete solutions to everyday problems appears to be playing an increasingly important role in voters’ decisions,” Escaffi told UPI.
Analysts also point to Peru’s political structure as a factor behind its persistent instability.
Juan Jiménez, a former prime minister under President Ollanta Humala, said the country has long experienced a contentious relationship between the executive branch and Congress, marked by frequent confrontations and repeated efforts to remove presidents from office.
“In the last 10 years we have had eight presidents. On Sunday we will have the ninth,” Jiménez told UPI.
He attributed part of the crisis to the repeated use of constitutional mechanisms that allow Congress to remove presidents from office, as well as to the country’s fragmented political landscape.
Questions over whether the eventual winner will be widely accepted have become another source of concern.
Polls released in recent days suggest an extremely close race, increasing the likelihood of legal challenges or accusations from the losing side.
Jiménez said the country’s first challenge after Sunday’s vote will be ensuring that all political actors accept the result.
“It is highly foreseeable that there will be a conflict over the outcome,” he said, noting that narrow margins in previous elections have repeatedly fueled allegations of fraud.
The former prime minister also argued that problems during the first round undermined confidence in electoral authorities and could contribute to renewed disputes once the final results are announced.
Escaffi, however, urged caution regarding claims of fraud. He said there is no evidence to support allegations of a systematic effort to alter the popular vote.
“What we have seen is that the fraud narrative has become a political tool used by different sectors to mobilize their supporters or preemptively challenge the results,” he said.
Political analyst and commentator Jorge “Coco” Salazar expressed a similar view, saying either candidate could challenge the outcome if the margin is extremely narrow.
Salazar told UPI that the climate of mistrust generated during the first round has created conditions for electoral disputes to once again dominate the political debate.
Regardless of who wins, analysts agree the next president will face structural challenges that extend far beyond the campaign.
The most pressing task will be restoring governability in a country where political confrontation has become routine.
According to La Torre, that will require building minimum agreements with a fragmented Congress, strengthening weakened institutions and rebuilding public confidence.
Corruption and public security also rank among voters’ top concerns.
Lira said Peruvians increasingly demand greater transparency and accountability from the political class, while rising crime has become one of the country’s most pressing social issues.
Escaffi warned that Peru’s ability to maintain economic stability despite years of political turmoil should not be taken for granted.
Institutions such as the Central Reserve Bank of Peru and the country’s fiscal discipline have helped cushion the effects of repeated political crises, he said, but prolonged uncertainty could eventually affect investment, economic growth and job creation.
Several analysts also believe the restoration of a bicameral legislature could help counter the institutional drift behind the recent instability.
Jiménez said the return of the Senate may make it more difficult to carry out rapid presidential removals and could create greater opportunities for political deliberation.
Even so, few experts are optimistic about a quick resolution to Peru’s political troubles.
“The election offers an opportunity to begin a more stable period, but by itself it does not guarantee that outcome,” La Torre said.
For many observers, the question that will remain after Sunday’s vote is not simply who wins the presidency but whether Peru’s political system can regain the legitimacy and stability it has steadily lost over the past decade.
