KEIKO FUJIMORI SWORN IN AS PERU'S PRESIDENT

Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru's president on Tuesday following her narrow victory in June's run-off election. Fujimori, a 51-year-old conservative, won with 50.135 per cent of valid ballots, defeating leftist candidate Roberto Sánchez by 49,641 votes. She becomes Peru's first woman elected president by popular vote and will govern until 2031. Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity and corruption and was released in 2023.

Fujimori's campaign centred on promises to address Peru's severe public security crisis, particularly extortion rackets operated by organised criminal groups. She pledged to implement tough security policies, including building a megaprison modelled on El Salvador's Cecot jail and enabling judges to conceal their identities during criminal trials for their safety. She has also promised infrastructure development by facilitating partnerships between government agencies and private investors. The Popular Force party and its main ally will hold half the Senate seats in the new legislature, making it more difficult for legislators to remove the president. Peru has had nine presidents in the past decade; over that period, only three were elected by popular vote, with others resigning or being removed by Congress amid corruption scandals.

Fujimori's return to power marks the Fujimori political movement's comeback to the Government Palace nearly three decades after her father left office. The movement remains deeply divisive in Peru: supporters credit it with rescuing the country from economic collapse and defeating the Sendero Luminoso terrorist organisation in the 1990s, whilst critics regard it as responsible for human rights violations, forced sterilisations and democratic weakening. Fujimori's inauguration occurred on the same date her father took office in 1990 and coincided with Peru's Independence Day and Alberto Fujimori's birthday.