Peru: the exit poll revealed the first results of the presidential election

Peruvians went to the polls to elect a president from among 18 candidates, without favorites, and an exit survey from the Ipsos firm, disclosed at the end of the vote, he gave first place to the teacher and radical left unionist Pedro Castillo, with 16.1%, which implies the need for a ballot.

It is followed, according to the same poll, by the right-wing economist Hernando de Soto Yes Keiko Fujimori (populist right), both with 11.9%; Yohny Lescano (center-right with 11%) and the ultra-conservative Rafael López Aliaga (10.5%), but the gap between them is so narrow that the trend could vary in the official vote count.

Immediately the celebrations began at the Castillo Campaign Headquarters, in the northern town of Cajamarca, but the candidate himself has asked his supporters to remain “calm” while awaiting the official results, the first partial report of which is due at midnight (05:00 GMT Monday).

“People are wise. I will pronounce with the official data “said Castillo, 51, who gained notoriety by leading a prolonged national teachers’ strike in 2017 and who at the start of the election campaign did not appear in the top spots in the polls.

As Lescano, who conducted the pre-election polls, said he would wait for the official results. “We maintain the trust”, declared.

The campaign was marked by apathy and fatigue among Peruvians -28% undecided, after a period of five years marked by convulsions.

Without strong political parties and in a nation where the candidate counts more than the ideology, no candidate would obtain an absolute majority, which results in a definition in the second round, on June 6.

The other candidates who aspire to the poll are the left-wing anthropologist Veronika mendoza (8.8% in the Ipsos poll) and the former center-right footballer George Forsyth (6.4%).

“Whatever the outcome […], we will respect it “De Soto said, voting.

Similar statements were made by Lescano, Castillo, Mendoza and Keiko. The latter urged “to respect with great caution and serenity” the results of the vote.

Peruvians also voted to renew the unicameral 130-member Congress, and polls predicted a new atomized Parliament.

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