By Sinan Dogan
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) – Peruvians will go to the polls in a second round of elections on Sunday to elect the president who will serve until 2026.
The election race is between left-wing Free Peruvian party candidate Pedro Castillo who received the highest number of votes in the first round on April 11 and Popular Force party right-wing contender Keiko Fujimori.
Data published by the National Office of Electoral Processes showed Castillo won 19.83% of the vote. Fujimori received 13.37%.
Recent polls indicate the union leader is narrowly ahead of Fujimori.
More than 25 million people will vote to elect the head of state as well as 130 deputies to Congress and five members to the Andean Parliament, which is an important part of the country.
A total of 150 international observers will be present to monitor the elections.
The new president will have a host of problems to tackle. Peru, which has the highest number of deaths per capita from the coronavirus on the South American continent, is struggling with a deep political, social and economic crisis.
The winner will take over the government on July 28 — the 200th anniversary of Peru's independence, and will serve a five-year term.
Peru was hit by political crises between 2016 and 2020.
Two presidents were dismissed because of corruption charges. And interim President Manuel Merino was forced to resign after six days of violent protests in November.
