Keiko Fujimori, a right-leaning politician of Peru's Popular Force party, has won the presidency in her fourth bid for the office.
According to the Associated Press and other outlets on June 29, Peru's National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) completed 100% of the vote count from the June 7 presidential runoff. The final tally showed Fujimori won 50.135%, defeating left-leaning Roberto Sanchez of the Together for Peru party (49.865%). The margin between the two candidates was about 0.27 percentage points (49,600 votes).
With this victory, President-elect Fujimori became the first woman elected president in Peru's history. She had previously run in the 2011, 2016, and 2021 presidential elections, losing all three times.
President-elect Fujimori is regarded as a figure who carries both her father's political legacy and its controversies. She is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who wielded iron-fisted rule from 1990 to 2000 and died after serving time on charges of human rights abuses and corruption. With Fujimori's presidential victory, Latin America will set a record of producing father and daughter presidents of Japanese descent.
President-elect Fujimori made her debut on the political stage at the age of 19, serving as first lady after her parents' divorce in the mid-1990s.
The Fujimori family cannot be left out when discussing Peru's modern history. In the late 1980s, Peru experienced hyperinflation that brought the national economy to the brink of collapse. Prices soared by thousands of percent, and the currency's function was paralyzed. In addition, as armed clashes with Maoist guerrilla organizations intensified, large parts of the country descended into areas where state functions ceased to work. The fragile central government structure revealed its limits.
The figure who emerged at this time was Alberto Fujimori. Born into a family of Japanese immigrants, he created a sensation among the Peruvian public by presenting himself as an outsider technocrat, and in the 1990 presidential election he defeated the candidate representing the entrenched elite to win office.
After taking office, Alberto Fujimori forcefully pushed neoliberal reforms, including tough austerity, market-opening policies, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises. As a result, Peru's economy quickly entered a phase of stabilization.
However, his style of governance quickly tilted toward authoritarianism. As clashes with the legislature became frequent, Alberto Fujimori declared a state of emergency with military backing in 1992, dissolved the legislature, and then pursued constitutional amendments to build a system of concentrated power.
From the mid-1990s, controversies over corruption and human rights abuses came to the fore in earnest. Allegations of media control, political schemes, and illegal wiretapping continued, weakening the regime's legitimacy. In 2000, he fled to Japan and announced his resignation by fax.
He was subsequently arrested during a visit to Chile in 2005 and extradited to Peru. He was found guilty of charges including the massacre of civilians and corruption during operations to suppress guerrillas, and in 2009 a Peruvian court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. After various controversies, he was pardoned in 2023 but died at age 86 in 2024 while battling cancer.
Assessments of Alberto Fujimori in Peru are sharply divided. To some, he was a hero who saved the nation from chaos, but to others, he was a dictator who undermined democracy.
Peru has seen extreme political instability and continued turmoil in security and the economy, with eight presidents replaced over the past decade. Amid this, attention is focused on how President-elect Fujimori will lead state affairs going forward.
Immediately after the vote count for this election was completed, President-elect Fujimori shared her thoughts on X (formerly Twitter): "I will wait for the announcement of the National Jury of Elections (JNE) with humility, prudence, and a sense of responsibility," she said, adding, "We are getting closer and closer to a path of order and hope for all Peruvians."
