General Elections 2001

Other Resources

• Alan Garcia
  
• Alejandro Toledo
  
• Alberto Fujimori timeline
  
• Vladirimo Montesinos Reader

Peru's future marches to the polls again. Melquiades Ramos /Tafos, 1987, Ocongate

General elections were held on April 8. In 2000, general elections were considered tainted because of President Alberto Fujimori's control over the government apparatus and outright vote tampering. When Fujimori resigned in September, new elections were convoked. After Fujimori fled the country in November, the elections became even more vital for injecting new energy into the weakened democratic system.

Since none of the eight candidates won 50% plus one vote of the valid ballots, there will be a runoff between Alejandro Toledo and Alan Garcia. It will be held on June 3. Alejandro Toledo of Peru Posible is the frontrunner, at least with a week remaining in the campaign, but it is far closer than anyone expected. Toledo was the presidential candidate who rallied most opposition support against Fujimori and he was to have confronted Fujimori in a run-off before Toledo decided to boycott the voting because it looked as if the government was rigging the elections. He is the frontrunner in the race. He has been challenged by Alan Garcia, the former president who ruled and ruined the economy between 1985 and 1990.

To understand the tone of the campaign, you have to keep your eye on the videotapes of spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos . Fujimori's intelligence chief and professional Rasputin had extensive dealings with Peru's economic and political elites, buying them off so that they would not challenge the Fujimori regime. A couple of times a week now, new videotapes come out and reveal more dirty deals. More than a few candidates live in fear of which tape will be pulled out of the vault for public display. Many people are simple feed up with the political system. Faced with the choice between Toledo and Garcia, as many as a fifth of the voters may spoil their ballots.

Reality Check

• In this videotape-obsessed campaign, all politicians are presumed guilty until proven the contrary, in the eyes of the electorate.
• Except for APRA, there are no national political parties. All the candidate slates are slapped together in jerryrigged alliances and backroom deals. Any likelihood of the presidential winner having a working majority in Congress is remote. Voting blocks will be fluid, to say the least.
• Ideology has disappeared from the political dialogue. That's a big change from even 10 years ago.
• Toledo has the closest thing to national organization, but it is such a hodgepodge of interests and individuals that it's hard to know how reliable it is.
• Because of the political upheaval, the campaign is a very negative-driven with mud-slinging and insinuation.
• Doom for incumbents: The parties in power (Accion Popuar, APRA and now the Fujimori block) have all gone down in flames after their period in power. The one exception has been Fujimori (1995 and 2000) and now we may assume that his victories were due to Montesinos sabotaging the other contenders or outright fixing of the elections.

Peru Election 2000 and Peru Post Election 2000 websites provide excellent background on the elections.

Presidential Candidates

• Alejandro Toledo - Peru Possible. In his first run at the presidency in 1995, Toledo was a dud. Last year he was struck by lightning as the annointed challenger to Fujimori. What is worrisome is that Toledo has not matured as a leader and an organizer. He's still running on the Cholo-shoeshineboy image.
• Alan Garcia - Partido Aprista del Peru. What can you say? Author of a huge debacle in his first term, Garcia now says he has learned from his errors. Hopefully, the electorate will do the same.
• Lourdes Flores - Alianza Unidad Nacional (Partido Popular Cristiano and Unión de Centro Democrático). The first woman candidate with a chance to win the presidency. Lima-centric and conservative, she's going to have to reach out to the interior. Her candidate slate has a strong representation from Opus Dei, the conservative Catholic movement.
• Fernando Olivera - Frente Independiente Moralizadora (FIM). A muckracker and crusader, Olivera has never inspired much confidence, but he has high visibility.
• Carlos Boloña - Solución Popular.The former finance minister under Fujimori oversaw the transformation of the economy from a state-controlled market (with multiple perks for interest groups) into a cut-throat, capital-starved, labor-surplus merket. He represents what's left of the Fujimori political option.
• Luis Castaneda - Solidaridad Nacional Withdrew in early February and endorsed Flores. Castaneda has never gelled as a candidate. He gained a degree of fame revamping the Social Security Institute under Fujimori.
• Jorge Santisteban - Causa Democratica Withdrew in early February but did not endorse any other candidate. Santisteban was trying to build on his reputation as the ombudsman (a kind of human rights advocate), but could not generate any momentum. He should have stayed at its old job and he could have built a following for the long term.
• Ricardo Noriega Salaverry - Todos por la Victoria a lawyer and economist. No chance.
• Marco Antonio Arrunategui - Proyecto Pais - associated with micro-enterprise and small business movement in Peru. No chance
• Ciro Galvéz - Renacimiento Andino. A public notary and provincial candidate (Junín) who had his serrano message stolen by Toledo. No way, José

Other Parties

• Union por el Peru - Javier Pérez de Cuéllar's organization created for the 1995 general elections
• SomosPeru - mainly in Lima and a few departments
• FREPAP - a religious sect

Congressional Elections

Peru has a unicameral parliament that has 120 members. There are 25 electoral districts. Lima elects 35 members while the other departments (and the Constitutional Province of Callao) elect the remaining. Thirteen parties and coalitions have presented candidates, though not necessarily in all districts.

Voting Requirements

About 14.9 million Peruvians are eligible to vote, with 4.6 million concentrated in Lima. Voters must be at least 18 years old. Voting is obligatory until a voter is 70 years old. Not voting carries a fine of about $534. In congressional races, the vote selects a party and then casts a preferential vote for a member of the list.

About 255,000 voters residing abroad have registered to vote in these elections. About 90,000 live in the United States

Illiterates got the vote in 1979. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1978. Women got the vote in 1956. The vote was extended to all literate men in 1931. Prior to those changes, only male taxpayers could vote. The first modern election law came in 1891.

Government Insitutions

• Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE)
  Election Results from 1931 to the present are available on line for presidential, congressional, municipal and other races with breakdowns by department. Fernando Tuesta, a specialist in Peruvian elections, took over the ONPE last year and given it a new face -- and website that is full of information. Unfortunately, it's written in Flash so I can't point to specific pages. In Spanish.
• Registro Nacional de Identidad y Estado Civil - issues the voter credentials
• Defensoría del Pueblo - protects the citizen.
• Congreso - Grupos Parliamentarios
• National Election Board (Jurado Nacional de Elecciones - JNE)

Other Sites

• Elecciones Peru - currently being updated. It does have Fujimori's speech announcing his resignation, the calling of new elections and the dismantling of the National Intelligence System (SIN). In Spanish
• Transparencia ::: Presidential Candidates ::: Lima Congressional Candidates ::: 12 months (These resources are in Spanish and you will need Adobe Acrobat)
• Elections Results from other sources: Georgetown U - Presidential and Congressional ::: Agora

Resources

• National Democratic Institute issued a statement on the elections. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Carter Center
• US AID reports: Democracy and Governance in Peru and Evaluation of US AID/Peru's Democracy Education Activities. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view these files.
• US Government Accounting Office (GAO) report on election assistance to Peru from the U.S. government (US$7 million) and other sources (US$6.6 million) March 10, 2001. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.
• The European Union Observer Mission in Peru. It has announced that it will stay around for the presidential runoff. In Spanish
• Relations between the European Union and Peru, plus Declarations about the Peruvian Situation
• AlertaNet, mostly in Spanish with some English, has a special report on Peru.
• BiblioINEI - free service of the National Institute of Statistics and Information (in Spanish)
• Jaime Bayly - a young TV personality, novelist and full of himself, but he's got interesting views and is not afraid to say them. And he has a website. (In Spanish)
• Financial Times Peruvian Elections
• Inter-Press Service Toledo, Following in Fujimori's Footsteps? April 3 2001
• Time Fending Off a Debacle (the date is incorrect, but probably from early 2000)