Politics

Political groups ponder endorsements in second round vote

Peru’s presidential hopefuls who failed to advance to a second round vote in June will hold talks with the top two candidates to determine who to support in what is expected to be a tight race for the country’s highest public office.

Former president Alejandro Toledo, who came in fourth during the Sunday election after holding a solid lead just weeks before, planned to meet with his policy committee on Tuesday, daily El Comercio reported.

“Ex-President Alejandro Toledo and the policy committee of the Peru Posible [party] are going to analyze the campaign and also if we are going to support a candidate in the second round,” said representative Gilberto Diaz.

Left-wing nationalist Ollanta Humala won the first round vote with about 30 percent support. Because he failed to receive more than 50 percent of the votes, he will face right-wing Congresswoman Keiko Fujimori, who finished in second with about 23 percent. The run off vote will be held on June 5 and the new president will assume office on July 28.

Both candidates are polarizing figures and have high rejection ratings at about 50 percent. Humala plans to amend the Constitution and allow the state a much bigger role in the economy, terrifying the business community as well as many Peruvians who believe the country has changed for the better in the past 20 years.

On the other hand, Keiko Fujimori will obviously continue the free market economy her father, imprisoned ex-President Alberto Fujimori, applied in his 1990-2000 government. But many fear that she could usher in a new era of the corruption and strong-arm tactics used by her father. Her congressional slate is rife with her father’s former adherents who rubber-stamped his anti-democratic measures.

According to Diaz, Toledo’s Peru Posible will not support Fujimori, but is open to talks with Humala. “If the party makes a decision to support someone it will be Ollanta Humala, but there is also the possibility of staying on the sidelines, it all depends on the evaluation we do today,” Diaz said.

Meanwhile, Luis Castañeda, Lima’s former mayor who had also held the lead at one point during the campaign for president, will wait until official results from the first round are announced before he decides who to support.

“We are going to make an announcement the moment that the official result is given by [election authority] ONPE,” said the spokesperson for Castañeda’s Solidaridad Nacional party, Walter Menchola.

Menchola said Castañeda, who came in fifth spot with just about 10 percent support, is open to meeting with both Fujimori and Humala.

In addition, Pedro Pablo Kuczynksi’s political coalition, Alianza por el Gran Cambio, will meet over the weekend to discuss an endorsement. Kuczynski received about 20 percent of the vote.

One Comment

  1. I hope some one in the goberment knows about Chaves helping Omala, People Omala got 1Million dolares to by the votes. People open your eyes Omala is a comunist and will brig the country back as Cuba and Venezuela conditions. The people must be aware of Omala is doing and he is a traidor to the nation. You must vote agains Him or will have another Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Brazil. Chavez contract people from Brazil to get into Peru and paid people for the vote to be elect. WE MUST FIRE OMALA FROM PERU FOR TRAIDOR TO THE COUNTRY.

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