Peru leftist Roberto Sanchez advances to runoff in presidential race

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Peru’s leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez clinched a spot in next month’s runoff election on Wednesday, official results showed, just hours after prosecutors indicted him on campaign finance charges and sought a prison sentence of more than five years.

Issued on: 14/05/2026 - 02:38

2 min Reading time Share By: FRANCE 24

Peru's leftist candidate Roberto Sanchez qualified Wednesday to compete in a runoff presidential election, results showed hours after he was indicted on charges of campaign finance violations.

Sanchez narrowly defeated far-right candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga and will face conservative Keiko Fujimori in the June 7 run off, according to results released with 99.94 percent of votes from the first round in April counted.

Sanchez won 12 percent of votes while Lopez Aliagas took 11.9 percent -- a difference of 18,799 votes. The national election commission's web site showed this margin is more than all the votes that remain to be counted. So Sanchez has squeaked into the runoff.

Fujimori led with 17.1 percent in this country with a seemingly revolving-door presidency. It has been through eight such leaders in the past decade. 

Read moreFujimori and Sanchez lead Peru's presidential runoff as count enters final stretch

Earlier Wednesday, Peru's public prosecutor charged Sanchez with campaign finance violations and requested a prison sentence of over five years.

The indictment alleges inconsistencies in his political party's financial reports in regional and municipal elections from 2018 to 2020 in which he took part, according to a document released by local media.

The prosecutor's office confirmed the document's authenticity to AFP on Wednesday.

"Roberto Sanchez is alleged to be responsible for the crimes of making false statements in an administrative proceeding and falsifying information on contributions and income of political organizations," it read.

The prosecution requested a prison sentence of five years and four months for the candidate.

The case was first brought before the courts in January 2026, but the judiciary partially rejected it and asked the prosecutors to reformulate it.

A hearing scheduled for May 27 will determine whether the case will go to trial or be thrown out.

Sanchez allegedly received more than $57,000 in unreported contributions from members for party activities.

"There was never any fraud or misappropriation," Sanchez said in a social media post.

"For years they have tried to plant a lie in order to discredit me politically. The courts have already dismissed the accusations about an alleged personal use of the party's financial resources," he said.

Read morePeru’s Sanchez to face Fujimori in runoff as rival signals protests over fraud

Lopez Aliaga, Lima's former mayor, has repeatedly claimed that the election was fraudulent and called for it to be annulled. But he has produced no evidence.

The election was marked by delays in the delivery of election materials in Lima, which forced authorities to reopen some polling stations the following day.

The European Union's election observer mission nonetheless gave the election a clean bill of health.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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