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Race On for Runner-up in Peruvian Presidential Election


Electoral posters of Peru's presidential candidates Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular party and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of the Peruanos Por El Cambio party are seen in Villa Maria del Triunfo on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, April 6, 2016.
Electoral posters of Peru's presidential candidates Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular party and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of the Peruanos Por El Cambio party are seen in Villa Maria del Triunfo on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, April 6, 2016.

With a surname and history that spark fury among some Peruvians and adoration among others, center-right presidential contender Keiko Fujimori has managed to stay atop a turbulent field of candidates.

But while the 40-year-old daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori has had the unswerving support of about a third of Peruvians for the past two years, she faces growing opposition that will most likely keep her short of the simple majority needed to win outright when Peruvians go to the polls on Sunday.

The chance to face her in a second round in June has fueled a hotly disputed contest for runner-up, with two main rivals with radically different platforms jousting for the support of millions of undecided voters.

"I change my mind every half hour," said Felix Castillo, 39, a security guard. He's part of what pollster Ipsos estimated on Sunday was a whopping 40 percent of the electorate that had not committed to any candidate.

This year's race has been jolted by the unprecedented barring of two leading candidates, prompting the head of the Organization of American States to warn that elections would be "semi-democratic" and stoking suspicions that the move unfairly favored Fujimori.

Another eight candidates have voluntarily dropped out of the initial lineup of 19. Fujimori's opponents, lacking a strong anti-Fujimori candidate to rally behind, have staged protests that upended her campaigning twice.

FILE - Peruvian presidential candidate Veronika Mendoza of the Frente Amplio party gestures during an event to introduce her team in Lima, March 28, 2016.
FILE - Peruvian presidential candidate Veronika Mendoza of the Frente Amplio party gestures during an event to introduce her team in Lima, March 28, 2016.

Surge by Mendoza

In a late surge, leftist lawmaker Veronika Mendoza, 35, has swept up the most support from undecided voters with promises of "radical change" to the free-market economic model of the past quarter century — momentum that has sent shivers through the local currency and stock markets.

Mendoza wants to ramp up spending, hike taxes and make Peru, set to become the world's second-biggest copper supplier this year, less dependent on the global mining companies that she says deserve tougher environmental policing.

"We don't think we should keep being a mere warehouse of rocks and raw materials," Mendoza said.

Mendoza edged up slightly in a Datum poll seen by a source Thursday, but remained statistically tied with septuagenarian former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Peru's select stock index fell by more than 2 percent on the news.

Kuczynski has defended mining and pledged to slash red tape while beefing up private investments in infrastructure to drive growth that has slowed at the end of a decade-long commodities boom.

Solid opposition to Fujimori

Despite repeated promises to avoid the authoritarian ways of her father — now in prison for human rights abuses and corruption — Fujimori has failed to soften opposition to her candidacy.

"All I know is I'm going to vote against Keiko in the second round," said engineer Diego Cano, 23.

Tens of thousands of Fujimori's opponents took to the streets Tuesday in the biggest political protest in Lima since rallies against Alberto Fujimori in 2000 as he tried to start a controversial third term after elections widely considered fraudulent.

The race could become even more polarizing in a runoff.

"Everyone has the right to express an position," Fujimori said afterward. She has remained upbeat throughout the campaign, leaving her rivals to duke it out as she brushes off their attacks.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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