Deeply divided Peru awaits final results of presidential vote

Pedro Castillo has thin lead over Keiko Fujimori after what one expert says is ‘one of country’s tightest elections’.

Peruvians are still waiting on the final results of their country’s presidential election, as leftist union leader Pedro Castillo maintains a razor-thin edge over right-wing Keiko Fujimori days after the deeply polarised vote. With 99.8 percent of the ballots counted on Wednesday afternoon, Castillo had 50.19 percent support compared with Fujimori’s 49.8 percent. Sunday’s runoff came amid years of political instability in Peru, which is also struggling to cope with surging COVID-19 infections and deaths and a pandemic-related economic downturn.