Her father was Peru’s President for a decade.
Now Keiko Fujimori could be following in his footsteps.
Fujimori’s name was one of two on the ballot when Peruvians went to the polls Sunday to choose a new leader in the second round of presidential voting.
The other: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former World Bank executive and ex-Prime Minister of Peru who has also served as finance and energy ministers.
With more than 92% of the vote counted Monday, the two were neck and neck, according to election officials.
The center-right Kuczynski is leading 50.3% to Fujimori’s 49.6%. Kuczynski is ahead by more than 103,000 votes, but officials said they were still counting votes, including absentee ballots cast abroad.
A controversial past
Fujimori’s face is familiar to Peruvian voters.
She was appointed as first lady for part of her father’s presidency after her parents divorced, and she was elected to Peru’s Congress in 2006.
Her father, Alberto Fujimori, is a controversial figure in Peru.
As president from 1990 to 2000, he is credited with restoring economic stability to the country and defeating the Maoist Shining Path guerillas, who carried out terrorist attacks. But he had an authoritarian streak that led to accusations of human rights abuses and corruption.
In separate trials, Fujimori was found guilty of breaking into the home of a former spy chief to steal incriminating videos, taking money from the government treasury to pay the spy chief, authorizing illegal wiretaps and bribing lawmakers and journalists.
In 2009, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of authorizing the operation of a death squad responsible for killing civilians.
Some worry that Keiko Fujimori would pardon her 77-year-old father and take a similar approach to the presidency if she wins.
The 41-year-old candidate has rejected the accusations, saying they’re lies fueled by her political enemies.
In a 2008 interview, she said she wouldn’t hesitate to grant her father amnesty because she believes he is innocent. She later backed away from those remarks.
Five-year term
The winner of the second-round vote will lead Peru for the next five years.
Controversies and protests have marred the campaign.
Demonstrators on both sides have clashed in the last few weeks, but there were no reports of violence during Sunday’s voting.
Keiko Fujimori took to Twitter after polls had closed to say that she was “optimistic” and thanked the country for its support.
Kuczynski said that he was grateful to political and civil groups, and citizens’ commitment to democracy.
