Sawt Falasteen - Delays mar voting as crisis-hit Peru picks ninth president in decade

From the Amazon to the Andes, some 27 million voters will mark half-metre-long ballot papers that list the 35 men and women vying to lead the country.

The frontrunners include a conservative comedian, an autocrat's daughter, and an ex‑mayor who wants to hunt immigrants and likens himself to a cartoon pig.

There were four-hour-long delays in opening some polling centers, fuelling cries of fraud after the bitterly fought campaign.

At 75 shuttered voting places in metropolitan Lima, furious would-be voters formed long queues under the equatorial sun.

The country's electoral commission blamed delays on a subcontractor who failed to deliver voting materials and said polls would stay open an hour longer.

Many Peruvians are furious with the political class, with backstabbing and corruption prosecutions so common the country built a jail specifically for ex‑presidents.

"The people can't take it anymore," said Rosenda Lopez, a 47-year-old textile vendor. "I hope someone is elected who works for the community, the community needs it. They are killing us."

- Snakes and narcos -

Conservative candidates dominated pre‑election polls, suggesting Peru may join a tide of radical right‑wing governments sweeping Latin America who have also aligned themselves with US President Donald Trump.

"I want people to vote for an honest president. That is what I want," said 60-year-old shopkeeper Anita Medrano. "I won't say who I voted for. But not the old or traditional ones. Not them. They already had their chance."

In the last decade, Peru's homicide rate has more than doubled. Reported extortion cases jumped from 3,200 to 26,500 per year.

Candidates have tried to outdo each other with hardline solutions -- killing hitmen, deporting migrants, and locking up delinquents in snake‑ringed jungle jails.

On the eve of the vote, frontrunner Keiko Fujimori told AFP she would "restore order" in her first 100 days by sending the army into jails, deporting illegal migrants, and strengthening the border.

Pre‑election surveys showed no candidate polling above 15 percent, far short of the 50 percent needed to win outright, meaning a June runoff looks likely.

The election will also decide the makeup of Congress, which has played a central role in toppling recent leaders.

"We have to end this," said 50-year-old voter Elena Flores. "We are living in a country of drug traffickers."

- Familiar name -

In an exclusive interview before election day, the favorite Fujimori said she would forge a united front with conservative leaders in the United States, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

"We will ask for special powers -- powers to modernize police stations, and powers for the armed forces to help us control the prisons," she said.

"We will expel undocumented citizens." This is Fujimori's fourth tilt at the presidency.

Her father, former president Alberto Fujimori, died in 2024 after serving 16 years in prison for crimes against humanity, bribery, embezzlement and other charges.

During this campaign, she has tapped nostalgia for his strongman rule.

"I believe that time and history are giving my father the place he deserves," she said.

She faces a challenge from former Lima mayor Ricardo Belmont, 80, who has surged late on the back of a large TikTok following.

"He's collecting votes from left to right, like Pac‑Man," said Patricia Zarate of the Institute of Peruvian Studies.

Also running are TV comedian Carlos Alvarez and Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a far‑right ex‑mayor who has promised to "hunt" Venezuelans and calls himself "Porky."

Sociologist David Sulmont said Peru's election shows "a major disconnect" between voters and what politicians are offering.

Incumbent president Jose Maria Balcazar, who has been in power for less than two months, is barred from running.

Polls opened at 7:00 am local time and close at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT), an hour later than planned. Voting is compulsory.

T.Samara--SF-PST