Foreign Ministry asks other countries to refrain from commenting on elections in Peru

When will the final results be known in Peru?

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(CNN Spanish) -

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru on Friday urged members of the international community, especially the “friendly countries”, to refrain from commenting on the electoral process.

The Foreign Ministry explained that the electoral process will conclude when the National Elections Jury (JNE) announces the results.

"Expressions in any sense of official authorities in office constitute an interference and a lack of respect for the Peruvian people," they wrote on their Twitter account.

The tight electoral process that pits the presidential candidate for Peru Libre, Pedro Castillo, against the candidate of Fuerza Popular, Keiko Fujimori, has not yet yielded definitive results.

Until this June 11 at noon, Castillo had 50.1% of valid votes and Fujimori had 49.8% of the votes, according to the most recent report from the Office of Electoral Processes of Peru, ONPE.

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The Government of Peru delivered a protest note to the Argentine ambassador in the country after President Alberto Fernández congratulated Pedro Castillo.

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The Peruvian government note highlighted that "the final results of the 2021 General Elections have not yet been announced by the electoral authorities of our country."

Earlier, through his Twitter page, Fernández said that he had communicated with Castillo, whom he called "president-elect."

A divided country

The candidate Pedro Castillo asked his followers on Monday "to be very attentive to defend the popular will until the last vote is counted."

Castillo wrote on Twitter that "votes are still missing from some corners of our beloved Peru and abroad."

Polls prior to the vote showed a higher proportion of voting intentions among urban voters for Fujimori, daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori.

Meanwhile, Castillo, a high school teacher who never held public office, maintained a stronger appeal among rural voters.

In the last presidential elections of 2016, Fujimori lost to former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski with 49.9% of the votes against Kuczynski's 50.1%.

Peruvian voters went to the polls at a time of extreme political instability.

Interim President Francisco Sagasti became the country's fourth president in less than five years after Congress voted to remove popular former President Martín Vizcarra and Vizcarra's replacement Manuel Merino resigned.

Zovatto: Election in Peru is a dilemma yet to be resolved 1:48

Former international leaders call for calm

This Thursday, the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA) reported through a statement that 22 former presidents ask to wait for the electoral authorities to decide who the president-elect of Peru is.

The letter signed by 22 former heads of state in the region urges Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Castillo to contribute in leadership and maintain citizen peace and that both parties hope that the bodies will dictate the final resolution of who won the presidential elections.

"We urge both claimants to contribute with their leadership to sustain citizen peace, and to wait for the constitutionally competent bodies to issue their final resolution," says the statement.

Presidential elections Peru Keiko Fujimor Pedro Castillo