Opinion poll suggests Pedro Castillo’s victory in the upcoming Peruvian elections

According to the opinion poll conducted by Ipsos Peru, Pedro Castillo is leading the voting intention with 42% of the votes, while his rival Keiko Fujimori follows him with 31% of the votes

April 19, 2021 by Peoples Dispatch
Pedro Castillo of the left-wing Free Peru political party and Keiko Fujimori of the far-right Popular Force party. Photo: Salud con lupa

Pedro Castillo of the left-wing Free Peru political party is set to win the second round of presidential elections in Peru, according to the latest opinion poll conducted by Ipsos Peru pollster, released on April 18. Castillo is leading the voting intention with 42% of the votes, while his opponent Keiko Fujimori of the far-right Popular Force party follows him with 31% of the votes. The poll also indicated that 16% of those surveyed said they would not vote for either candidate and would cast a spoilt vote, and 11% did not say who they would vote for or had yet to decide.

The study further elaborated that 55% of those surveyed said that they would never vote for Fujimori and 33% expressed the same position against Castillo. Likewise, the survey showed that in the interior of the country, Castillo would get 51% of the votes, while Fujimori would get 24% of the votes. However, in the capital Lima, where almost one-third of the population lives, Fujimori would win 43% of the votes and Castillo would secure 26% of the votes.

This was the first opinion poll since the first round of the elections held on April 11. According to the final results of the first round, Castillo has obtained 19.06% of the votes, while Fujimori has received 13.36% of the votes.

Castillo is a primary school teacher and union leader. He has expressed himself in the favor of rewriting the country’s constitution, with the aim of giving the state more control and a leading role in the economy to compete with the private companies. He has proposed an anti-neoliberal economic model to address the crisis facing Peru. He has proposed nationalizing natural resources & strategic industries such as mining, oil, hydropower, gas and communications.

Meanwhile, Fujimori, the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, has expressed herself in support of preserving the current neoliberal and unequal constitution, drafted during her father’s dictatorship. She advocates a neoliberal capitalist economic model.

The run-off elections are scheduled for June 6, when over 25 million Peruvians will elect their next president and two vice presidents for the period 2021-2026. The new head of state and his vice presidents will take office on July 28.