{"id":55986,"date":"2026-04-09T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/?p=55986"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:21:58","slug":"peru-seeks-a-new-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/peru-seeks-a-new-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Peru seeks a new president"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following Peruvian politics is a major challenge, not only because of the number of presidents who have governed Peru over the past ten years, but also due to the continuous political reforms from one election to the next. General elections will be held next Sunday in a context that, paraphrasing political scientist Manuel Alc\u00e1ntara, could be described as a \u201cfatigued democracy.\u201d <\/a>Since 2012, the AmericasBarometer has consistently recorded declining satisfaction with the functioning of democracy. Since 2016, presidents have been unable to complete their five-year terms, averaging just 14 months in office. A novelty in these elections is that, after 36 years, a bicameral Congress<\/a> will be elected, replacing the current unicameral system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is being elected?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 general elections have been described as the most complex so far this century. Voters will have to choose their candidates on a super-ballot measuring 42 cm wide by 44 cm long, featuring five columns corresponding to the presidential race, the bicameral Congress, and the Andean Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thirty-five candidates are running in the presidential election, only four of whom are women. Each ticket also includes two vice-presidential candidates. According to electoral rules, if no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a second round is held between the two candidates with the highest vote shares. With only a few days remaining before the election, it is not possible to predict who will compete in the runoff, but it is clear that voters will return to the polls on June 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Congress will consist of a Senate with 60 members and a Chamber of Deputies with 130 representatives. Thirty-seven lists are competing. Senators are elected through a mixed electoral system: 30 from a national constituency, 26 from single-member districts, and 4 representing the Lima metropolitan region. The Chamber of Deputies is elected through a proportional system across 27 constituencies. Only 19% of Senate lists and 27% of Chamber of Deputies lists are headed by women. The entire Congress is elected for a five-year term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the election of deputies and senators, voters cast ballots for parties, but may optionally use preferential voting by indicating up to two preferred candidates within the chosen party. Various studies have shown the effects of preferential voting on intra-party dynamics, as well as on the electoral process. Perhaps one of the most relevant is its potential impact on the number of invalid votes, which is regularly higher in congressional elections than in presidential voting. This is not a minor issue, as in the 2016 parliamentary elections 35% of votes were invalid, and in 2021 the figure was 27%. In this year\u2019s election, the number of lists and the return to a bicameral Congress make voting more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new feature is the dual threshold of representation that parties must meet to obtain seats. For the Chamber of Deputies, parties must secure seven seats and 5% of valid votes nationwide. For the Senate, three seats and 5% of valid votes nationwide are required. The calculation is independent for each chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dual threshold will have a significant effect in reducing the number of parties with parliamentary representation, which may contribute to governability. However, in a context of high political fragmentation, it could increase overrepresentation and affect legitimacy, as around thirty parties might end up without representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the right, Keiko Fujimori (Fuerza Popular) is running for the fourth time. In the previous three elections, she narrowly lost the presidency, but her party secured significant representation in Congress each time. She has the advantage of a strong electoral base across nearly all regions of the country. Rafael L\u00f3pez Aliaga (Renovaci\u00f3n Popular) resigned from the Lima mayoralty to run for president for the second time. Carlos \u00c1lvarez (Pa\u00eds para Todos), a well-known political impersonator, is running for the first time. Joining the right-wing field is Ricardo Belmont (Partido C\u00edvico Obras), a former mayor of Lima in the 1990s, remembered as the first outsider in Peruvian politics, prior to Alberto Fujimori.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the left, Roberto S\u00e1nchez (Juntos por el Per\u00fa), a sitting congressman, was an ally and minister of Pedro Castillo and seeks to vindicate him. Also on the left is Alfonso L\u00f3pez Chau (Ahora Naci\u00f3n), an economist and former rector of a public university. Completing this limited list are two centrist candidates: Jorge Nieto (Partido del Buen Gobierno), who served as a minister under President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and Marisol P\u00e9rez Tello (Primero la Gente), a former congresswoman and also a former minister during Kuczynski\u2019s government. Only three of the eight parties represented by these candidates currently hold seats in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The polls<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2021 elections, 18 candidates ran, and for the first time the combined valid votes of the two candidates who advanced to the runoff did not reach 50%, totaling only 32%. According to the latest polls, the current level of fragmentation is similar to the previous election, and the differences in voting intention among candidates are narrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a campaign that has intensified in recent days, the outcome could be surprising. The latest IPSOS poll showed Fujimori rising from 13.7% to 15%, consolidating her lead. Meanwhile, L\u00f3pez Aliaga, who led the polls a month ago with 11%, dropped to 7%, falling to third place. Twenty-seven percent of voters were undecided or planned to cast blank or null votes. In this scenario, any increase in voting intention could have a significant impact on determining which candidates advance to the runoff, as well as on the composition of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main issues in the debate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public policies to address organized crime and the problems of extortion and contract killings have been central to the debate. Proposals range from building more prisons, applying the death penalty for serious crimes, and withdrawing from the American Convention on Human Rights, to police reform and repealing so-called \u201cpro-crime\u201d laws that, according to some, make sanctions more lenient. Other relevant campaign issues include migration policies and informal mining, which severely impacts the environment, security, fiscal revenues, and formal investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peru is undergoing an electoral process marked by high political fragmentation. The six \u201cleading\u201d parties together account for 45% of voting intention. This is consistent with low support for political parties, due to a prolonged crisis of representation. Amid uncertainty, what is clear is that the presidential election will be decided in a runoff. It is also likely that no party will hold a majority in either chamber, and the president will have to build a legislative shield in order to survive and address the problems facing Peruvians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peru heads into elections marked by political fragmentation, uncertainty, and a fatigued democracy that points to a decisive runoff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":55981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16471,16493],"tags":[14126],"gps":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-55986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-elecciones","8":"category-peru","9":"tag-debates-br-es"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55989,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55986\/revisions\/55989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55986"},{"taxonomy":"gps","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gps?post=55986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}