Sawt Falasteen - Peru presidential runoff too close to call

With just over half of polling centers reporting, Fujimori had a six-point lead over Roberto Sanchez, but that was projected to evaporate as the count comes in from rural areas.

Many voters had hoped the election would end years of political chaos that has seen a string of presidents jailed, deposed and impeached.

Whoever wins will be the country's ninth president in a decade.

But the country is deeply divided between cities like Lima and the more rural, Indigenous south, where Sanchez has dominated.

"We have to choose between the 'lesser evil'," said disgruntled 23‑year‑old voter Renzo Masa.

Exit polls and quick counts showed a statistical tie that made the race impossible to call.

"The result reflects the country's divisions," said Paulo Vilca, a political analyst at the Peruvian Studies Institute. "Whoever wins will have half the country against them."

Fujimori, 51, is hoping to ride a wave of support for right-wing candidates who have won recent elections in Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador with a tough-on-crime message.

She appeals to the legacy of her late father, Alberto Fujimori, who stabilized the economy and crushed a Maoist insurgency, but was convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity.

Sanchez, a 57-year-old former psychologist, surged late in the race to reach the runoff, thanks to support in poorer rural areas.

He has moderated his early calls for "radical change" and told AFP he wants a "respectful" relationship with US President Donald Trump.

Late Sunday the result remained on a knife edge.

"It is a statistical tie, leaving no option but to wait for 100 percent of... tally sheets to know who really won the election, because the gap is minimal" said Alfredo Torres, director of Ipsos Peru.

April's first round was marred by logistical problems and a vote count that took weeks to complete, deepening distrust in Peru's creaking institutions.

Around 27 million Peruvians can vote, and voting is compulsory.

"Every vote counts," Fujimori said early on election day.

On the eve of the election, a judge said Sanchez must stand trial over past financial irregularities in his party, raising claims of interference.

If he wins, he would have presidential immunity, though remain vulnerable to the country's right-leaning legislature -- which has ousted several recent presidents.

"I hope the entire process is carried out transparently, that the people's vote is respected," early voter Evelyn Pazos, 43, told AFP.

Sanchez has the backing of former president Pedro Castillo, a schoolteacher jailed after a failed attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.

Sanchez is rarely seen in public without a broad-brimmed palm straw hat gifted to him by his mentor, whom he plans to pardon.

- 'Communism' or 'dictatorship' -

Neither Sanchez nor Fujimori will have a legislative majority and whoever wins must build alliances to complete their term, according to analyst Jeffrey Radzinsky.

Despite political disillusionment, Peruvians' main concern is security, as criminal gangs spread and extortion complaints spiked ninefold in five years.

"They kill, dismember, demand protection money. Enough!" said 58-year-old taxi driver Roberto Lovaton.

The winner will inherit a stable economy, with GDP growth of over three percent and low inflation.

He or she will replace interim president Jose Maria Balcazar from July 28.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST