Lima, Peru — Keiko Fujimori is increasingly closer to becoming Peru’s first female president, inching ahead in what is her fourth presidential bid since 2011.

With only 300 ballots left to be reviewed, she already holds a lead of more than 40,000 votes over leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez. The candidate from the Fuerza Popular party is confident that the result cannot be reversed and that she will be proclaimed president in a few days, while the special electoral boards finalize the review of challenged ballots.

According to the latest report from the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), with 99.688% of the ballots counted, Fujimori has obtained 50.111%, or 9,188,410 votes. While Sánchez reached 49.889%, with 9,147,710 votes.

The difference between the two is 40,700 votes, a figure that, if the trend continues, makes it almost impossible to reverse.

During a Father’s Day event held on June 21 in the Villa El Salvador district, Fujimori expressed confidence in the outcome.

“Today we can say, and we only have a few days left: yes, we did it. Five years of great challenges lie ahead, but I am sure that, with God’s blessing, but above all with the work and unity of all Peruvians, we will succeed,” she stated.

She also said that she is concerned about the long delay in the official announcement of the results. “Every day of delay in knowing the results is a day lost for the transition process.” 

She added, “In a transition process, there aren’t only political issues; there are also announcements and measures that can be made in due course, such as appointing teams, especially since the problems facing Peruvians continue to worsen.”

Fujimori says she feels “a healthy envy seeing how quickly the results in Colombia came in” after that country’s close election on Sunday night. Quick-count votes have Colombia’s Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly winning the race, but his opponent Iván Cepeda has said he will await the official results before conceding. 

At the Fuerza Popular campaign headquarters, the atmosphere is one of cautious optimism. Although Fujimori hasn’t declared victory, she says they have “a great deal of hope” and are grateful for the support of Peruvians.

In the last three elections, Fujimori, the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, reached the second round, but fell just short of winning. She was defeated by Ollanta Humala in 2011, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2016, and Pedro Castillo in 2021.

^{Sánchez challenges the count} 

Meanwhile, Sánchez refuses to concede defeat. Last Saturday, he announced he will file a new request to annul the votes of Peruvians abroad.

“The signs are clear. We have received tally sheets from the United States and Argentina that we consider irregular,” the leftist candidate stated.

These statements come after the National Elections Board (JNE) rejected two previous requests to annul more than 2,300 polling stations.

^{Peru awaits the official proclamation}

Although the official proclamation still depends on the resolution of pending challenges, the possibility of Fujimorismo’s — as her father’s political movement is called in Spanish —  return to power is imminent.

The National Elections Board, which has already proclaimed the senators and representatives, must resolve the remaining challenges before officially declaring the new president.

Featured image: Keiko Fujimori speaks during a political event in Lima, Peru.

Image credit: ANDINA/Vidal Tarqui.