Keiko Fujimori, Ex-President’s Daughter, Heads to Runoff in Peru

By ANDREA ZARATE and NICHOLAS CASEY

LIMA, Peru — Presidential elections in Peru were headed to a second round of voting on Sunday with the daughter of an imprisoned former president in the lead over a centrist former prime minister, Peruvian officials said.

Keiko Fujimori, 40, whose father, Alberto, ruled the country with an iron fist in the 1990s, had about 38 percent of the vote, according to an official count of about one-fifth of the ballots.

Trailing her by double digits was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77, a centrist economist who served as the country’s prime minister in the mid-2000s.

Ms. Fujimori, a right-wing candidate, campaigned on promises to promote foreign investment while restoring her father’s law-and-order legacy of combating extremist groups.

But her campaign was unable to clinch the majority needed to avoid a runoff, scheduled for June 5.

Speaking to supporters Sunday, Ms. Fujimori said that the results reflected a “new political map” in the country and that voters wanted to “reclaim the state’s presence.”

But critics fear that her candidacy risks a return to the authoritarianism of her father, whose legacy has become a central issue of the campaign.

Mr. Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000, suspended the Constitution and disbanded Congress. In 2009, a court found him guilty of corruption and human rights abuses, including running death squads that carried out extrajudicial executions. He is now in prison serving a 25-year sentence.

Mr. Fujimori is credited, however, with dismantling the Shining Path, Peru’s deadly extremist organization. His economic policies tamed the country’s hyperinflation, eventually setting Peru on a path of steady growth, which continues.

“The father’s legacy is a double-edged sword for Keiko,” said Jo-Marie Burt, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, a policy group. “It brings her a steady stream of votes, but it brings her a steady rejection. There are people who will never vote for her.”

It remained unclear whether Ms. Fujimori would be able to win a second round of voting if the voters supporting her opponents migrated toward a single rival. In 2011, she advanced to the second round but lost to Ollanta Humala, a former army officer who capitalized on sentiment against her. Polls indicate she will face a tough race against Mr. Kuczynski.

On Sunday, Peruvians fanned out to voting stations like the one at Sagrado Corazón Chalet School, where soldiers guarded ballot boxes placed in classrooms.

Damaris Poma Escobedo, 28, a supermarket employee, voted for Ms. Fujimori because she identified with a female candidate.

“We need a woman to be president,” she said. “She has good ideas, and I think the past is the past, and we can look forward to give her an opportunity.”

Guillermo Fernandin Bohl, 34, a caterer, said he had voted for Mr. Kuczynski.

“He can bring foreign investors and modernize the country,” he said. “When you are smart, you vote for the right one, not for someone’s race or looks.”

Throughout the campaign, Ms. Fujimori was repeatedly assailed by her rivals, who said another Fujimori presidency would harm the country’s democracy.

On Tuesday, an estimated 30,000 people gathered for a protest march against her candidacy, staged on the 24th anniversary of Alberto Fujimori’s coup.

Ms. Fujimori recently signed a pledge to respect human rights and freedom of the press, an unusual move meant to signal to voters that she would not repeat her father’s authoritarianism.

“If anything, the election is more polarized this year,” said Cynthia McClintock, a political scientist specializing in Peru at George Washington University. “Keiko Fujimori has a long way to go.”

秘魯總統大選 親商路線對決

秘魯總統首輪選舉由兩位走親商路線的候選人藤森惠子和庫欽斯基出線，受此激勵，秘魯股匯市11日大漲。

目前選票已開出近九成，秘魯前總統藤森謙也的女兒藤森惠子以39.5%的支持率領先，居次的是前世界銀行經濟學家庫欽斯基，獲得21.6%的選票。兩人將在6月5日的決選中對決。

由於兩人都支持捍衛秘魯實施了25 年的自由市場經濟模式、他們的政黨看來也會跟著贏得國會多數席位，秘魯股市11日應聲大漲12%，是2008年來最大單日漲幅；秘魯貨幣也勁揚2.67%至2.8索爾兌1美元，升值幅度是1992年來最大。

儘管40歲的藤森惠子在周日的首輪選舉領先，但民調顯示，決選可能由77歲的庫欽斯基勝出。庫欽斯基為歐洲移民之子，是親商的經濟學家，雖曾擔任財政部長、但在部分社會議題上比藤森惠子溫和。他說：「我相信我們能採取一些舉措使每年的經濟成長率重返5%。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/world/americas/fujimori-peru-presidential-election-headed-to-a-runoff.html

Video：People in Lima, Peru, cast their votes in the first round of a closely contested presidential election.
http://nyti.ms/25TV6qm

2016-04-12．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．編譯季晶晶