PERU’S ELECTION HEADED FOR RUNOFF

Peru’s presidential election is headed for a runoff, with Pedro Castillo, a far-left former union activist and teacher in the lead, according to data released Monday by the country’s electoral body.

He will probably face a right-wing candidate in a second round of voting in June.

Castillo, a social conservative, was one of 18 candidates, and tapped into a wave of anti-establishment sentiment in an election characterized by widespread frustration with the political system.

He is probably headed into a runoff with Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, according to a survey of electoral tallies by the firm Ipsos for a television channel. Trailing Fujimori is an ultraconservative, Rafael López Ariaga.

Either pairing would set the stage for a highly polarized second-round election, the results of which could steer the country in radically different directions.

“This is the vote of a country tired, depressed, frustrated and also fed up,” said Peruvian political analyst Fernando Tuesta.

Over the past five years, the country cycled through four presidents and two Congresses and witnessed repeated clashes between the legislative and executive branches.

Three former presidents have spent time in jail during bribery investigations, including one candidate in this year’s election; a fourth killed himself to avoid arrest; and a fifth, Martín Vizcarra, one of the most popular recent leaders, was impeached in November.

His replacement, who lasted less than a week in office, is under investigation in connection with the fatal shootings of two young men at protests, which led to his resignation.

With 84 percent of the votes tallied, Castillo was leading with 18.5 percent Monday, more than 4 points ahead of his closest rival.