Voters in Peru went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and members of Congress. The election took place amid a spike in violent crime and corruption in the country, which heightened voter discontent and resulted in no clear favorite candidate emerging from the crowded field.

Preliminary results indicate that conservative former congresswoman and daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori, is likely to face fellow conservative Rafael "Porky" Lopez Aliaga in a runoff. Although Fujimori held a slight lead in early counts, her vote share fell far short of the over 50% needed for an outright victory, making a second round in June highly probable.

The ballot featured 35 candidates, reflecting the frustration of an electorate that has seen nine presidents in the last decade. Fujimori has vowed to crack down on crime but has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. Aliaga, the former mayor of Lima, has proposed building prisons in the Amazon region and allowing judiciary members to conceal their identities to protect judges from criminal gangs.

Source: www.dw.com