LIMA: Peruvian socialist Pedro Castillo overtook right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori in the country’s presidential election vote count on Monday, taking the lead in the official tally on the back of a late surge of rural votes.

The official count from Sunday’s election showed outsider candidate Castillo with 50.1pc and Fujimori on 49.9pc, with over 94pc of the vote counted. The leftist candidate had trailed in early counting, but taken as much as 75pc of some newly counted vote updates to steadily haul himself clear.

Castillo, the son of peasant farmers, has pledged to shake up the Andean nation’s constitution and mining laws, spooking copper producers and local markets, which fell sharply in trading on Monday as he gained in the race.

The tightness of the result could also lead to days of uncertainty and tension. The vote underscored a sharp divide between the capital city Lima and the nation’s rural hinterland that has propelled Castillo’s unexpected rise.

Lucia Dammert, a Peruvian academic based in Chile, predicted that the coming days would be volatile, with potential challenges to the votes, requests for recounts and street protests by supporters of the losing side.

“All we want right now is democracy, that everything be democratic. That whoever wins, the other accepts it and doesn’t start any trouble,” said Lili Rocha, a voter in Lima after some scuffles had broken out overnight.

As results trickled in on Sunday evening, 51-year-old Castillo had rallied supporters to “defend the vote” when an exit poll had shown him behind, though he later called for calm.

Fujimori, 46, the daughter of ex-president Alberto Fujimori, who is in prison for human rights abuses and corruption, also appealed for “prudence, calm and peace from both groups.” Castillo’s Free Peru party said on Twitter that the candidate, who had been in his northern rural home district to vote, would arrive in the capital Lima on Monday morning, to “ensure the will of the people is respected”.

J. P. Morgan said in a note that it could be days before the final outcome of the election was clear, and the two candidates might opt to wait for this process to finish before declaring victory or conceding defeat.

An unofficial fast count late on Sunday by Ipsos Peru had given Castillo a fractional lead, after an exit poll had said rival Fujimori would eke out a win, leaving investors and mining firms guessing.

The latest data showed Fujimori with 8.38 million votes to Castillo’s 8.42 million.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2021