77-year old former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has won Peru's closest ever presidential elections (image: Diario La Primera)
Fewer than 40,000 votes separated Kuczynski from Fujimori out of some 17.1m ballots cast. Fujimori refused to concede defeat until all votes were in, but on June, 11, with 100% of the votes counted, Kuczynski was officially proclaimed president.
Kuczynski inherits an economy which, while not firing on all cylinders, has been growing for 82 consecutive months. His challenge will be political. He will need to govern with a political aptitude not always apparent during his electoral campaign, as Fujimori’s populist right-wing Fuerza Popular (FP) will have a two-thirds majority in congress. On paper, Kuczynski shares many policy positions with FP but he is beholden to leftist voters who won him the election and will face social protests if he forgets that fact.
