Fujimori, a Peruvian, cries of fraud while elections are not held

The result of Peru’s presidential election remains in balance after right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori accused his opponent’s party of fraud and called for 200,000 votes to be declared null and void and 300,000 more to be examined.

If his request is confirmed, the election is likely to go in his favor, snatching victory from the hands of his left-wing rival Pedro Castillo. This, in turn, would almost certainly lead to widespread protests in the streets of his supporters.

At a press conference Wednesday night, Fujimori and his lawyers said they had found evidence of forged signatures in more than 500 voting records along with a number of other irregularities, blaming them on Castillo’s Free Peru party.

“There are still 500,000 votes at stake here, half a million votes nationwide, and we think it’s critical that they be analyzed before the final count,” Fujimori said. “There is clear evidence of the systematic intention on the part of Free Peru to subvert the popular will.”

Miguel Torres, Fujimori’s lawyer, said his People’s Force party “will not throw in the towel” and “will fight until the final vote.” “Many Peruvians consider that their votes are stolen and we cannot allow it,” he said.

The accusations, which will go to the electoral court of Peru, came just as the authorities finished counting last Sunday’s elections, which took place peacefully and without major incidents. The results are displayed Castillo won 50.2% to Fujimori’s 49.8, with a difference of just 72,000 votes. The only stories left to tell are some that have already been questioned.

Fujimori’s allegations of fraud are likely to increase tensions after what was already one bitter campaign between rivals of opposite ends of the political spectrum. Castillo is a former left-wing elementary school teacher from a poor rural community in the northern Andes, while Fujimori, who is running for the third time for the presidency, is from the political establishment in Lima, daughter of the former authoritarian leader of the country, Alberto Fujimori.

Castillo wants to turn Peru’s economic model upside down, saying it has failed the poor, while Fujimori largely defends it.

Financial markets are eagerly awaiting the end result. The currency, the sun, plus the stocks and the good Peruvians have all fallen in recent weeks in anticipation of Castillo’s victory, with some wealthy Peruvians struggling to move their money out of the country.

When the initial results arrived on Sunday night, supporters of both candidates took to the streets to celebrate what they claimed as victory while accusing their opponents of trying to steal the vote. There were some minor skirmishes in the capital, Lima. Since then, however, both Castillo and Fujimori have appealed for calm and urged their respective camps to patiently wait for the final result.

Just minutes from the Fujimori press conference on Wednesday, Castillo sent another placating message to his followers.

“Let’s not fall into the provocations of those who want to see this country in chaos,” he said he wrote on Twitter.