Peru’s polarised presidential runoff still too close to call

Leftist union leader Pedro Castillo’s lead over right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori is growing, but remains razor-thin.

Left-wing Peruvian presidential candidate Pedro Castillo has taken a razor-thin but widening lead ahead of right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori on Monday, but the results of the highly polarised poll remain too close to call. With over 95 percent of the vote counted, Castillo edged in front of Fujimori with 50.2 percent support over her 49.8 percent. Sunday’s run-off came amid years of political instability in Peru, which is also struggling to cope with surging COVID-19 infection and death rates and a related economic downturn. The country last week reported the highest coronavirus death rate per capita in the world.