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Peru: The Dictator's Daughter Or The Farmer's Son? - OpEd
Peru's Pedro Castillo. Photo Credit: Tasnim News Agency
June 22, 2021
By Sara Brombart
Peru’s first round of elections on 11 April saw voters choosing between 18 presidential candidates with no one candidate leading by an impressive margin.
Pedro Castillo, a rural teacher and union leader of the left-wing, socially conservative political party Peru Libre (Free Peru), emerged with a surprise lead of 18.9 per cent. His opponent, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the imprisoned dictator Alberto Fujimori and third time presidential candidate of the right-wing Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) trailed with 13,4 per cent.
Similarly, the 130 seats in the new congress will be shared amongst 10 political parties, with no one party holding a majority.
Some 30 per cent of the electorate did not vote at all – and this in a country where voting is mandatory. The low participation reflects the general aversion towards the rampant political corruption, scandal and instability of the past decades.
The mood is of a people fed-up with a self-serving political class in which personal economic interests have scarcely become distinguishable from political goals.
More:
https://www.eurasiareview.com/22062021-peru-the-dictators-daughter-or-the-farmers-son-oped/
