Presidential vote tightens in Peru, Fujimori loses ground
LIMA: Peru’s presidential race is tightening on the eve of Sunday’s elections, with one poll showing a virtual tie between Keiko Fujimori, daughter of an ex-leader jailed for massacres, and former Wall Street banker Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
A divisive conservative figure, the 41-year-old Fujimori remains the favorite to win the runoff vote despite her father Alberto Fujimori’s dark legacy.
But three last-minute polls showed her earlier estimated lead of more than five percentage points had narrowed.
Part of the large chunk of previously undecided voters appeared to be opting for Kuczynski, 77, a former economy minister and World Bank executive.
Pollster GfK said Friday its latest survey indicated Fujimori had 50.3 percent of the vote to 49.7 percent for Kuczynski.
“That is clearly a technical tie,” GfK director Hernan Chaparro told foreign media in a news conference.
Another pollster, Datum, said Fujimori had 52.1 per cent of the vote to 47.9 per cent for Kuczynski, known as “PPK.”
“PPK is gaining support from undecided voters,” said Datum’s director Urpi Torrado.
Pollster CPI on Thursday gave Fujimori 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent for Kuczynski.
CPI director Manuel Saavedra estimated some five percent of voters are still undecided. That is enough to swing the result against the populist conservative Fujimori.
Fujimori is popular among poor rural communities but also has a high disapproval rating nationwide.
Many Peruvians associate Fujimori with her father’s authoritarian rule. He is in jail for corruption and for crimes against humanity, for massacres of opponents he alleged were terrorists in the 1990s.
Some 23 million Peruvians are obliged to vote on Sunday in the election to replace outgoing leftist President Ollanta Humala.
I want to be president of Peru to work for change... to build a great, prosperous country that is united and reconciled. — Keiko Fujimori, Peru presidential candidate
Both candidates have vowed to fight crime and create jobs in the South American mineral exporter, one of the region’s strongest economies.
“I want to be president of Peru to work for change... to build a great, prosperous country that is united and reconciled,” Fujimori told supporters at her closing campaign rally.
“With the support of all of you, I will have the honor of becoming Peru’s first woman president.”
Kuczynski stressed his long experience as a financier and minister. — AFP