Survey Puts Keiko Fujimori Ahead in Peru's Presidential Election Next Week

Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori of Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) gives a speech during a meeting with local leaders in San Juan de Lurigancho in Lima, Peru, May 10, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Mariana Bazo

Lima: Peruvian presidential contender Keiko Fujimori is seen beating rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in the June 5 run-off election, according to an Ipsos poll released on Sunday, consolidating the lead she had gained in recent weeks.

Fujimori, the 40-year-old daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, was seen garnering 45.9% of votes, according to the poll published in local newspaper El Comercio.

Kuczynski, a 77-year-old former World Bank economist who narrowly moved onto the second-round election after coming in second to Fujimori ahead of a leftist rival, is seen getting 40.6% of votes.

The Ipsos survey of 1,815 people has a 2.3 point margin of error up or down and was taken between May 26-27. Some 13.5% of voters were still undecided or planned to cast a spoiled ballot.

Fujimori was seen winning 53.1% of valid votes, which does not include blank or spoiled votes, compared to Kuczynski's 46.9%.

Fujimori has solidified her lead despite a scandal involving a top aide. The senior aide resigned from her center-right party in a bid to calm an uproar following media reports that linked the two to money laundering, accusations that both have denied.

Fujimori and Kuczynski are scheduled to face off Sunday night in the last televised debate before voters head to the ballot box.

In 2011, Fujimori lost her first presidential bid to President Ollanta Humala, who cannot run again this year because of term limits.

(Reuters)

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