By Marco Aquino
LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvians supporting socialist Pedro Castillo and right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori prepared to take to the streets on Saturday amid swirling uncertainty over the result of a tight June 6 presidential election that has been held up by legal challenges.
The already tense election process was plunged into disarray this week after one of the four magistrates on the jury reviewing contested ballots quit after clashing with the other officials over requests to nullify votes.
On Saturday the electoral jury swore in a replacement to allow the process to restart, key to restoring stability in the copper-rich Andean nation, which has been rattled by the tight vote which showed leftist Castillo with a narrow lead.
“Electoral justice cannot be paralyzed or blocked, much less in this phase of the process,” said the president of the National Elections Jury (JNE), Jorge Salas. “These interruptive arts will not prosper.”
Fujimori, 44,000 votes behind with all ballots counted, has sought to disqualify votes, largely in rural areas that backed Castillo, making claims of fraud with little evidence. Backers, including some retired military, have supported her claims.
Castillo’s socialist Free Peru party has denied the allegations of fraud while international election observers have said the vote was carried out cleanly. The U.S. State Department described the process as a “model of democracy.”
The election jury will restart its work reviewing contested ballots on Monday, a spokeswoman for the body said. It must complete these before an official result can be announced.
The polarized election has deeply divided Peruvians, with poorer rural voters rallying behind Castillo, a former teacher from a small village, and wealthier urban voters from capital Lima supporting conservative Fujimori.
Both groups have announced demonstrations for Saturday afternoon, despite calls from health authorities to avoid crowds with the country battling against the most deadly per capita COVID-19 outbreak in the world.
“We continue forward with great hope. I will be waiting for you,” Fujimori, the daughter of jailed ex-president Alberto Fujimori, said on Twitter in a call for the march.
Amid the tensions, intrigue has mounted after an audio recording was leaked of a jailed former intelligence adviser who was a close collaborator to former president Alberto Fujimori, seeking to influence the vote in favor of Keiko Fujimori.
The Navy has said it will investigate phone calls from his prison on a naval base and the current interim government has raised concerns about the revelation.
“We are outraged that an inmate appears on the scene at such a critical moment in our democratic life,” Prime Minister Violeta Bermúdez told reporters on Saturday.
Castillo’s supporters say they will march to stop those who want to “delegitimize the electoral process” and will call a national strike if Castillo’s win is not confirmed soon.
Castillo, a 51-year-old elementary school teacher and the son of peasant farmers, plans to rewrite the Constitution to give the state a more active role in the economy and keep more of the profits from mining companies.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Chris Reese)
