Sawt Falasteen - Left-winger Sanchez climbs to second place in Peru vote count

With over 91 percent of ballots tallied, the daughter of divisive former president Alberto Fujimori, herself a perennial presidential hopeful, garnered nearly 17 percent of the vote, followed by Sanchez with 12 percent.

Sanchez overtook ultraconservative former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who had been tipped to face Fujimori in an all-right duel but was trailing in third with 11.8 percent.

But the tally could still change.

Lopez Aliaga cried foul and called for the vote to be annulled but Fujimori and Sanchez urged respect for the results.

Sunday's election ran into Monday in parts of the capital Lima because of delays in the delivery of ballots and other materials.

The European Union's election observer mission gave the election a clean bill of health, despite the logistical setbacks.

Sanchez, the political heir of jailed ex-leader Pedro Castillo, dubbed Peru's "first poor president," gained ground as the count proceeded, powered by support from rural areas and southern Andean regions.

On Wednesday, the 57-year-old former trade minister urged all candidates to "accept these results" or, if alleging irregularities, to present proof.

"The ballot papers do not lie," he told AFP on Tuesday.

Fujimori echoed his calls for calm to avoid further tumult in the country, which has burned through eight presidents in 10 years.

"Today more than ever, responsibility and political maturity are required; we cannot generate more chaos," she said.

Lopez Aliaga, a fan of US President Donald Trump who has vowed a similar crackdown on migrants, threatened major protests if the results were not annulled.

"I am giving them 24 hours to declare this electoral fraud null and void," he said Tuesday, surrounded by hundreds of supporters. "If it is not declared null and void tomorrow, I will call for a nationwide protest."

- Eight presidents in a decade -

A record 35 candidates ran for president of the chronically unstable Andean nation, where four of the last eight presidents were impeached by Congress.

The campaign was dominated by a flurry of hardline proposals from the right on how to combat a surge in extortion and contract killings.

Sanchez emulated rural schoolteacher Castillo on the campaign trail, sporting one of the wide-brimmed sombrero hats that the ousted president made his personal style signifier.

Castillo, who was impeached and jailed after attempting to dissolve Congress and rule by decree in 2022, remains popular in impoverished Andean communities.

He defeated Fujimori in the 2021 presidential runoff.

Sanchez has vowed to pardon Castillo if elected and to push for a new constitution that gives greater recognition to Indigenous Peruvians.

Sanchez represents "a rural vote" that is "less white, more rebellious, more left-leaning," political scientist Jorge Aragon told AFP, predicting a tougher fight for Fujimori if Sanchez beats Lopez Aliaga for the second run-off spot.

Fujimori is on her fourth run for president, after failed bids in 2011, 2016 and 2021.

She has capitalized on growing nostalgia for the strongman leadership of her late father, saying "a Fujimori" is needed to restore order.

C.Hamad--SF-PST