Peru’s electoral tribunal, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), has proclaimed conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori the winner of the presidential runoff, confirming a razor-thin margin of roughly 50,000 votes out of more than 18 million cast. The declaration, made on 3 July, triggers a transition to a government that Fujimori, in a social media post, said would be built on “responsibility, humility and a deep sense of duty.” Her defeated opponent, leftist congressman Roberto Sánchez of Juntos por el Perú, immediately rejected the outcome, calling the incoming administration “profoundly illegitimate” and announcing the formation of a patriotic front to “recover democracy.”

Sánchez, who secured 50.08 percent of the vote within Peruvian territory but lost the global count due to ballots cast abroad, alleged that the electoral process lacked transparency and that rules governing the overseas vote were altered days before the second round. In a press conference in Lima, he said his party had filed a petition and a request for precautionary measures with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), arguing that a “sinister intention to manipulate” the foreign vote had tainted the result. He also accused the United States ambassador to Peru, Bernie Navarro, of intervening in the election, claiming the envoy met with electoral officials and acted as an observer in a manner that violated neutrality. The US embassy has not publicly addressed the allegation.

Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori, campaigned on a platform of law and order, market-friendly economics, and a strong state response to insecurity. Her Fuerza Popular party has long been a dominant force on the Peruvian right, and her victory marks the culmination of three presidential bids. Sánchez, meanwhile, conditioned any dialogue with the new executive on a set of demands: a full investigation into the roughly 50 deaths during anti-government protests in 2022 and 2023, the repeal of congressional legislation that critics say has fuelled organised crime, and the release of former president Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and detained after attempting to dissolve Congress in late 2022. “While there is no political will to identify, sanction and repair with the families, there is nothing to talk about,” Sánchez said.

The contested result deepens a cycle of political instability that has seen Peru cycle through multiple presidents in recent years. The April first round, which featured a record 33 candidates, was marred by delays in ballot distribution and a protracted count, fuelling fraud allegations from various political camps. With Sánchez refusing to recognise Fujimori’s mandate and mobilising supporters behind a “patriotic front,” the incoming government faces immediate legitimacy challenges both in the streets and before international bodies. The IACHR has yet to rule on the admissibility of the opposition’s petition, while the official transition proceeds in Lima.