Meet the Candidates: Peru
BY AQ EDITORS | JANUARY 6, 2021
After last year's impeachment turmoil, Peruvians will likely choose one of these candidates as their next leader.
Peruvians will head to the polls in April to elect a new president after an unprecedented period of political instability and widespread protests in late 2020 following the impeachment of former President Martín Vizcarra. Below you’ll find information on the leading candidates in the race, who were polling above 5 percent as of December 10, according to Ipsos. There are two rounds of voting. If no candidate receives at least 50% plus one of the votes in the first round on April 11, the two leading candidates will compete in a runoff in June. The exact date is yet to be determined.
AQ also asked a dozen nonpartisan experts on Peru to help us identify where each candidate stands on two spectrums: left wing versus right wing, and nationalist versus globalist. The results are mapped on the charts below. We’ve published the average response, with a caveat: Platforms evolve, and so do candidates.
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“We want a new generation of politician. The corruption is killing us.”
HOW HE GOT HERE
A national champion soccer goalie who also played briefly for Peru’s national team, as well as a business owner and reality TV contestant, Forsyth used his celebrity to enter politics in 2010 as a council member in Lima’s working-class La Victoria municipality. After his election as La Victoria’s mayor in 2018, Forsyth gained notoriety for his work to “clean up” the municipality, using both sports — he moved the mayor’s office to an abandoned sports complex — and heavy-handed policies, like police evictions of informal workers.0
WHY HE MIGHT WIN
Thanks to his regular media presence, he is recognized by many. He is a fresh face who sells himself as a new generation of politician at a time of widespread frustration with the political class, and his limited experience in politics means he has less baggage than other candidates.
After Forsyth resigned as mayor to run for president, his replacement said residents “felt used politically.” His inexperience and vague platform may also turn voters off.
WHO SUPPORTS HIM
Forsyth does not have a clearly defined ideological base, but polls suggest that his supporters skew younger, more urban, wealthier and more female.
More:
https://americasquarterly.org/article/meet-the-candidates-peru/
"President" George Forsyth?
B-b-but the "chicks" are wild for him.
If he gets upset, he pouts. Real gravitas.
God forbid an actual Native Peruvian should be allowed to become Peru's President.