LIMA – A new survey reveals that two conservative politicians are currently leading Peru’s crowded presidential contest scheduled for April 12, though widespread voter uncertainty suggests the race remains wide open.
Keiko Fujimori and Rafael Lopez Aliaga have emerged as frontrunners among a historic field of 36 candidates, according to polling data from Datum Internacional released Sunday evening on Peruvian television. Fujimori captured 10.7% support while Lopez Aliaga garnered 10%, making them the only contenders to reach double-digit backing.
The narrow margins reflect deep political uncertainty in the South American nation, with approximately two-fifths of survey respondents either refusing to select a candidate or indicating they won’t participate in the election at all.
These modest approval ratings make a June 7 runoff election highly probable, continuing a pattern for the Andean country where no presidential candidate has secured a first-round victory since the late 1990s.
Peru’s presidency has experienced remarkable instability, cycling through eight different leaders since 2018. Currently, four former presidents are incarcerated, and the nation’s unpopular conservative-dominated legislature ousted the most recent president last month following revelations of undisclosed meetings with a Chinese business figure.
The Datum survey, conducted between February 27 and March 4, found that over 38% of voters had not made a decision or planned to abstain from voting. Company CEO Urpi Torrado noted that many participants who do intend to vote will likely make their final choice just one week before the election.
Fujimori, whose father Alberto Fujimori served as president before receiving a 16-year prison sentence for human rights violations including authorizing death squad operations during his ten-year rule, is making her fourth presidential bid.
Her polling position has fluctuated with Lopez Aliaga, an ultra-conservative former Lima mayor who has adopted the campaign nickname “Porky” due to his resemblance to an American cartoon character. Two weeks earlier, a previous Datum survey showed Lopez Aliaga leading with 13.4% compared to Fujimori’s 9.7%.
Additional candidates polling around 5% include leftist Alfonso Lopez-Chau, who previously served as a central bank official; wealthy entrepreneur Cesar Acuna; Carlos Alvarez, a well-known comedian famous for impersonating past presidents; and Wolfgang Grozo, a retired military general and former intelligence director.
