Elections in Peru 2006
The 2006 elections in Peru took place on April 9 and June 4, 2006. In these elections, the following positions were filled for the 2006 to 2011 term:
- President
- two vice presidents
- 120 members of Congress
- five members for the Andean Community Parliament (and ten replacements)
As none of the candidates for the office of president was able to win an absolute majority in the first round of elections , a run-off election was held on June 4th between the two leading candidates, Ollanta Humala and former President Alan García . Garcia finally won the runoff election.
The inauguration of the newly elected president was celebrated on July 28, 2006, the Peruvian national holiday.
Election call
The current president Alejandro Toledo announced the date of the election for his successor on December 8, 2005. Toledo could not participate in the election because an amendment to the constitution from 2001 prohibits direct re-election.
The chances of being elected would have been very slim for him. By the end of his term in office, just 19 percent of Peruvians were satisfied with Toledo’s work. At his best, he had an approval rate of 80 percent.
Candidates
24 candidates could be put up for the presidential election, more than ever in the history of Peru. Of the 24 candidates, only 19 completed the campaign. Alberto Fujimori was excluded from the election and three other candidates (Rafael Belaúnde Aubry, Fernando Olivera Vega and Marco Antonio Arrunátegui) withdrew before the election.
The following were the most popular candidates according to pre-election polls.
| Political grouping | Candidates | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Art | for the presidency | for the 1st Vice President | for the 2nd Vice President |
| Alianza por el Futuro | coalition | Martha Chavez | Santiago Fujimori | Rolando Souza |
| Front of the center | coalition | Valentín Paniagua Corazao | Alberto Andrade Carmona | Gonzalo Aguirre Arriz |
| Partido Aprista Peruano | Political party | Alan García Pérez | Luis Giampietri Rojas | Lourdes Mendoza del Solar |
| Unidad Nacional | coalition | Lourdes Flores Nano | Arturo Woodman | Luis Enrique Carpio |
| Unión por el Perú | Political party | Ollanta Humala | Gonzalo García Núñez | Carlos Alberto Torres Caro |
Alan García
Alan García , President of the Partido Aprista Peruano , was already President of Peru from 1985 to 1990. During this time his popularity declined, but he still has a broad base in the country. Especially young voters who had not seen his government first hand voted for García. His election promises included more investments for social development in the poor south and the supply of drinking water. He could ultimately decide for himself.
Lourdes Flores
According to the polls, Lourdes Flores , president of the Unidad Nacional party and formerly close to Alberto Fujimori , was particularly strongly supported by women. Her opponents accused her of being a right-wing or corporate candidate. Even Hugo Chavez , Venezuela's president, described Flores as the candidate of the Peruvian oligarchy . Flores mostly ignored the criticism or responded with sarcastic comments.
Lourdes Flores was supported by the entrepreneurs and Wall Street and had met several times with representatives from these circles. George W. Bush had signaled support for Lourdes Flores.
Ollanta Humala
The president of the Partido Nacionalista Peruano comes from the ethnocacerist movement . In his political direction, Humala made positive references to the left and center-left governments in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. If elected, he announced that he would review the contracts of transnational mining companies and reverse the privatizations.
Valentín Paniagua
Valentín Paniagua was interim president of Peru for a few months after Alberto Fujimori's resignation . He was President of the Acción Popular until his death and was a candidate for Frente de Centro .
Martha Chavez
Martha Chávez is the president of Alianza por el Futuro , Alberto Fujimori's party . Your party represents Fujimori, who is currently in extradition custody in Chile . The party's program consists largely of bringing Fujimori back to power.
Survey
First ballot
For the first ballot, the polls predicted the following percentages.
| 10-11 Nov. 1 | 3–8 Dec. 2 | 11-13 Jan. 3 | 25-27 Jan. 4 | 8-10 Feb. 5 * | 22–24 Feb. 6 * | 8-10 March 7 * | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lourdes Flores ( UN ) | 28% | 25% | 25% | 30% | 35% | 33% | 31% |
| Ollanta Humala ( UPP ) | 11% | 22% | 28% | 22% | 25% | 26% | 30% |
| Alan García ( APRA ) | 17% | 16% | 15% | 13% | 17% | 22% | 22% |
| Valentín Paniagua ( FDC ) | 17% | 14% | 10% | 8th % | 8th % | 7% | 5% |
| Martha Chavez ( AF ) | N / A | N / A | 2% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 5% |
Second ballot
If there were to be a second ballot, voters would decide as follows after the polls before the first ballot.
| 10-11 Nov. 1 | 3–8 Dec. 2 | 11-13 Jan. 3 | 25-27 Jan. 4 | 8-10 Feb. 5 * | 22–24 Feb. 6 * | 8-10 March 7 * | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flores vs. Humala | 58% vs. 23% | 50% vs. 35% | 46% vs. 39% | 52% vs. 34% | 61% vs. 39% | 60% vs. 40% | 54% vs. 46% |
| Flores vs. García | 56% vs. 23% | 54% vs. 26% | 54% vs. 25% | 57% vs. 22% | 67% vs. 33% | 62% vs. 38% | 59% vs. 41% |
| Humala vs. García | 30% vs. 31% | 44% vs. 31% | 44% vs. 29% | 40% vs. 30% | 51% vs. 49% | 50% vs. 50% | 53% vs. 47% |
- 1 APOYO survey 10. – 11. November 2005, published on November 13 [1]
- 2 APOYO survey 3. – 8. December 2005, published December 11th. [2]
- 3 APOYO survey 11. – 13. January 2006, published January 15. [3]
- 4 APOYO survey 25. – 27. January 2006, published January 29. [4]
- 5 APOYO survey 8. – 10. February 2006, published February 13. [5]
- 6 APOYO survey 22.-24. February 2006, published February 27. [6] 74% of the votes valid.
- 7 APOYO survey 8. – 10. March 2006, published March 12th. [7] : 74% of the votes valid.
- * Note: These results only include valid votes. So these surveys are theoretically more meaningful than the others.
Result of the 1st ballot
The big surprise on election night was the strong performance of Alan García. Humberto Lay also surprised, but had no chance of becoming president. The polls before the elections had once again proven to be very unreliable with the election results.
During the counts it was long open whether Alan García or Lourdes Flores would face Ollanta Humala in the second ballot. It was only when the final result was finally announced on May 4th that Lourdes Flores finally admitted defeat.
The result of the first ballot was as follows:
| Ollanta Humala | 30.624% |
| Alan García | 24.325% |
| Lourdes Flores | 23,800% |
| Martha Chavez | 7.434% |
| Valentín Paniagua | 5.754% |
| Humberto Lay | 4,380% |
With 12.2 million votes cast, the difference between García and Flores was just 64,000 votes in the end. Therefore, the definitive outcome was also uncertain for a long time.
Result of the 2nd ballot
On May 21, 2006, a televised debate between the two candidates and moderator Augusto Álvarez Rodrich took place at the National Archaeological Museum, which was marked by personal attacks by the candidates on each other.
The runoff election on June 4, 2006 was then won by Alan García Pérez from the Partido Aprista Peruano with 6,965,017 votes, corresponding to 52.625% against 6,270,080 votes, corresponding to 47.375% for his opponent Ollanta Humala Tasso from the Unión por el Perú.