LIMA, Peru – Peru’s presidential election is coming to a close, with Pedro Castillo, a former left-wing trade unionist and teacher, at the helm, according to data released by the country’s electoral body on Monday.
He is likely to face a right-wing candidate in a second round of voting in June.
Mr Castillo, a social-conservative, was one of 18 candidates and used a wave of anti-establishment sentiment in an election marked by widespread frustration over the political system.
He is probably on his way to a run-off with Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, according to a recording of the election languages by the firm Ipsos for a local television channel. Behind Ms Fujimori is an ultra-conservative Rafael López Aliaga.
Both pairings would form the scene for a highly polarized election in the second round, the results of which could steer the country in different directions.
“This is the voice of a country that is tired, depressed, frustrated and also fed up,” Fernando Tuesta, a Peruvian political analyst, said in a statement on Monday.
The election comes at a low point for Peru. For the past five years, the country has been through four presidents and two congresses and has seen repeated clashes between the legislative and executive faces.
Three former presidents spent time in jail during bribery investigations, including one candidate in this year’s election; a fourth killed himself to arrest; and a fifth, Martín Vizcarra, one of the most popular recent leaders, was charged in November.
His replacement, who lasted less than a week in office, is being investigated in connection with the fatal shooting of two young men during protests, which led to his resignation.
With 84 percent of the vote, Mr. Castillo led 18.5 percent of the vote Monday afternoon, more than five points ahead of its closest rival.
Mr. Castillo, 51, wants to nationalize the country’s natural resources to help pay for investments in health care and education; promises to have a high court elected according to the popular mandate; and proposes a new constitution to benefit ordinary Peruvians and not business interests.
In the run-up to the election, Mr. Castillo drew large crowds in rural towns, but he did not get wide coverage in the national media until polls showed he was rising to about 6 percent a week before the election.
He celebrated his surprising victory from the impoverished highlands of Cajamarca, where as a youth he was part of the peasant protection that applied local laws and customs.
“The blindfold has just been removed from the Peruvian people,” he said. Castillo told crowd of supporters in Cajamarca on Sunday night with the wide hat of farmers in the region.
“We are often told that only political scientists, constitutionalists, learned politicians, those with a high degree can govern a country,” he said. “They had enough time.”
Ms Fujimori, who is making her third bid for president, has been jailed three times in recent years in connection with an ongoing investigation into money laundering. In this election, she undertook to stop pandemic shutdowns and curb crime.
Marianela Linares, 43, a proponent of Castillo, said Sunday he represents the “big change” voters have been looking for, but so far could not find with traditional politicians.
“We have always been deceived by high-level people who always said they would help move forward, but lied to us,” she said. Linares, a public teacher in the Amazon city of Puerto Maldonado, said. “He knows what the need is. He knows what hunger is, and what it means to live in misery. ”