Anden og afgørende runde af præsidenvalget i det sydamerikanske Andes-land kan ende med et smalt nederlag til højre-kandidaten Keiko Fujimori
Exit polls in Peru’s presidential election indicate leftist Ollanta Humala has a narrow lead over right-winger Keiko Fujimori in the run-off, BBC online reports Sunday evening.
The polls suggested a lead of about 5 per cent for Mr Humala, a one-time ally of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Ms Fujimori is the daughter of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori.
The two candidates are at opposite ends of the political spectrum – a fact that worried some Peruvians who said they would not vote for either of them.
Mr Humala and Miss Fujimori led the field after the first round on 10 April, which saw the defeat of three centrist candidates. No-one gained more than the 50 per cent needed to win the election outright.
If Mr Humala is confirmed as the winner, he will succeed Alan Garcia, who could not stand for a second term.
Ollanta Humala, 48, comes from a left-wing tradition of greater state intervention. He staged a short-lived rebellion against Alberto Fujimori in 2000 and narrowly lost to Mr Garcia in the last presidential election in 2006.
He campaigned on a promise to increase the state’s role in the economy and redistribute wealth to Peru’s poor majority.
His critics fear he will embark on interventionist policies similar to those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, although Mr Humala says he is more in sympathy with Brazil’s moderate left-wing approach.
Keiko Fujimori, 36, appeals to Peruvians who still admire her father, president for a decade from 1990. He is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for corruption and organising death squads.
She has defended his record, saying by taming hyper-inflation and defeating Marxist Shining Path rebels, he laid the basis for Peru’s current economic boom, BBC notes.
