Peru’s nail-biter of an election is finally about to be settled. After an inconclusive first round result and an ugly second round campaign, Pedro Pablo Kukzynski, widely known as PPK, looks set to eke out the narrowest of victories over Keiko Fujimori.
If his triumph is confirmed, this is something of an upset. PPK, a 77-year-old former prime minister and finance minister, seemed like a relatively lackluster candidate coming out of the first round, and Fujimori enjoyed a fairly decisive lead in most polls until the immediate run-up to the election, when she and PPK seemed to get locked in a tie. But PPK’s comeback isn’t so much a ringing endorsement of his tired, technocratic campaign as a mark of deep concern about Fujimori’s democratic credentials.
This unease stems principally from the record of her father, Alberto, who was president from 1990–2000. Indeed, memories of the electoral fraud allegations surrounding Fujimori senior’s election in 2000 prompted PPK to express concern that it could happen again.
