The Popular Renewal candidate for the general elections in Peru, Rafael López Aliaga, has led in recent hours a rally in front of the headquarters of the National Elections Jury (JNE) in Lima. From there he has given the authorities a 24-hour deadline to invalidate the elections and call a new appointment with the polls, in the context of his allegations of alleged electoral fraud.
"Gentlemen of the JNE, we give you a deadline: you have 24 hours to declare the nullity of this garbage," he has proclaimed before dozens of gathered supporters. "If at 8 PM (local time) tomorrow (meaning Wednesday), this good garbage is not declared null, I summon you all again, nationwide," López Aliaga has added, who has put on the table the possibility of a "civil insurgency, which is provided for in the Constitution."
The right-wing leader has also demanded of the Attorney General of Peru and the Chief of Police that they "immediately arrest" the president of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Piero Corvetto, whom he has defined as "Part of a mechanism, of a strategy" to consummate the alleged fraud. "There is a mafia that has planned this, months ago," he has assured, again attacking the delays in the distribution of electoral material and accusing Corvetto of "violating the law as he pleased."
"Not even in Venezuela, in the dictatorship of (Nicolás) Maduro, has this filth been seen," he asserted. "Prosecutor, fulfill your duty and do not be an accomplice to this sham," insisted the leader of Renovación Popular, stressing that "today it is known who are the traitors to Peru and who have the courage and what it takes to move this country forward."
In this vein, the former mayor of Lima has maintained that "the mafia wants to inflate" a second candidate "to put him (in the second round) alongside the usual lady," in allusion to the leader of Fuerza Popular, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori. The conservative politician has run for President for the fourth time, after reaching the second round in 2016 and 2021, when she lost by a very narrow margin and declared herself a victim of fraud.
López Aliaga has defended that this supposed plan aims to confront Fujimori with a weak rival, "whom she is going to defeat," and has criticized the silence of the leader of Fuerza Popular regarding the current situation. "The lady should be here, showing her face and not hiding," he affirmed, remarking that, even if her party finished in second place when the scrutiny concludes, "she will not accept it." "In this way, no," he added.
The presidential candidate has denounced that his party has been a victim of the "theft" of 1,600,000 votes, without providing proof to support it, and has called on his bases to "be alert". "We declare ourselves in a state of emergency starting this minute. If the fraud is consummated, I call for a march in due course, a multitudinous march, of all Peru. We are going to convene all Peru, as soon as we have official results, to declare civil insurgency," he has warned.
"Enough of people halfway," he has proclaimed, before maintaining that "the only way to stop the popular will is via fraud" and demanding that the representatives of the European Union (EU) leave the country due to their passivity regarding what has happened. "One must be blind and complicit not to realize that the electoral process. Gentlemen of the EU, get out," he has demanded, amidst applause and cheers from those present.
As a consequence of all this, he lamented that "the party (of democracy) has turned into a fierce drama, to carry out this attempt". "They are not going to achieve it. They will have to kill me to achieve it", López Aliaga emphasized. "If they want to set the prairie on fire, we are going to set it on fire. We are not one-handed", he pointed out, reiterating that his formation "is going to ask for new elections", "without Corvetto", even in the event that the final results "favor" Popular Renovation.
"Democracy has popular vote as its fundamental axis, it is the essence of democracy. That value, that right, has been violated in front of all of us, of all Peru," he affirmed. "What they cannot win on the field, they win at the table, with trickery," added the candidate, who maintains that his list "is clearly above" Fujimori's party.
"We remain on permanent alert. Peru is going to bury these traitors and these power groups. If it is necessary to give our lives, we will do it, but this will not remain like this," he concluded, after the electoral observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) indicated on Tuesday that, although the election day proceeded in a "peaceful" and "orderly" manner, logistical and technical failures were detected, as well as "considerable delays" that have fueled the "narratives of fraud disseminated in some political sectors" since the previous campaign.
With slightly less than 10% of the ballots pending recount, Fujimori is shaping up as the winner of the first round of the Peruvian presidential elections, with 16.91% of the votes. In second place is the candidate of Renovación Popular, López Aliaga, with 11.99%; followed by Roberto Sánchez, of Juntos por el Perú, with 11.88%, and Jorge Nieto, of the Partido del Buen Gobierno, with 11.15%.
As the vote count has progressed, the candidacy of Roberto Sánchez, a left-wing leader and political heir of Pedro Castillo, has been gaining ground in percentage of votes, surpassing Nieto and putting López Aliaga's spot at risk for an eventual second round scheduled for June.