Lead widened
Kuczynski Peruvian presidential contender Keiko Fujimori widened her lead over rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in an Ipsos poll on Sunday, despite a scandal involving Fujimori’s top aide.
Fujimori was seen winning 52.6 percent of valid votes in the June 5 run-off election compared to Kuczynski’s 47.4 percent, according to the results of a mock voting exercise by Ipsos broadcast on local television show Cuarto Poder.
The poll was conducted May 19 and 20, a few days after Univision and Cuarto Poder reported that the secretary general of Fujimori’s center-right party, Joaquin Ramirez, was under investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
A man identified as a DEA informant in the report said he had recorded audio of Ramirez affirming that Ramirez laundered $15 million for Fujimori in 2011.
“One would have thought that as a consequence ... there would be a spike in mistrust of Keiko Fujimori. That didn’t happen,” Alfredo Torres, the head of Ipsos in Peru, said on Cuarto Poder.
Fujimori, the 40-year-old daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, has denied any wrongdoing and portrayed herself as the victim of a smear campaign.
Ramirez, who has also denied wrongdoing, offered his resignation letter on Wednesday to keep the scandal from hurting her campaign. (RTRS)