- Title: PERU: Presidential candidate Ollanta Humala in dead heat ahead of run-off vote
- Date: 1st June 2011
- Summary: EL CALLAO, PERU (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) HUMALA EXITING MILITARY COURT AFTER LEADING THE 2000 REBELLION LIMA, PERU (FILE - 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HUMALA SAYING: "I was in the army, in the armed forces, for 25 years and my only boss has been the Peruvian state, the people. I had the chance to make a military uprising in 2000 against the regime of
- Embargoed: 16th June 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Peru, Peru
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA6052LCNGR6K2GN2CQPPG66TNR
- Story Text: Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala, a leftist and former military man has chipped away at the lead of his rival, right-wing lawmaker Keiko Fujimori - putting the hotly contested election in a dead heat days before Peruvians go to the polls.
Humala won the first vote back in April but has trailed Fujimori in the weeks leading up to the run off vote, but his message appears to be gaining traction with two pollsters showing a virtual tie and a third still giving Fujimori a slight advantage before the June 5 run off.
The nationalist Humala is well known in Peru for having led a bloodless yet unsuccessful revolt against his current opponent's father, then-President Alberto Fujimori, in 2000 as a protest against various corruption scandals.
Since announcing his presidential bid he has worked to play down his reputation as a hard-liner with an authoritarian streak developed during years in the army.
At the time of the uprising, he insisted he was not committing a crime.
"It is a duty as a man, as a Peruvian and as a member of the army to have to confront this power. What I have done is not a crime. I am not a criminal," said Humala in 2000.
Throughout the harsh campaign Humala has reminded voters that he was later pardoned by the Peruvian Congress, while Fujimori was jailed for human rights violations, where he remains still today.
The 48-year-old Humala is no stranger to politics. He also ran for the country's top office in 2006, when he won the first round but then lost out to current president, Alan Garcia, who is constitutionally barred from running again.
Humala has always used his military background to show his dedication to his country.
"I was in the army, in the armed forces, for 25 years and my only boss has been the Peruvian state, the people. I had the chance to make a military uprising in 2000 against the regime of the Fujimori family and that was the end of my military career. Politics allows me to continue serving the only boss I have ever had: the Peruvian people," said Humala.
The Humala family is known for its outspoken radicals.
In 2005, Humala's brother, Antauro, led an uprising against the government by occupying a police station in Andahuaylas, in the country's south.
Four policemen and one gunman were killed.
Humala has since politically distanced himself from his brother, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
"The distinction with my brother is basically an ideological one. I do not agree with certain ideas my brother has, but on a personal level I still love him as before," said Humala.
To woo centrists Humala has tried with limited success to distance himself from his former political mentor, Venezuela's socialist president and firebrand, Hugo Chavez who publicly endorsed his 2006 presidential bid.
"There are lots of similarities between the performance - not just professionally but also politically - of President Hugo Chavez and me. I also keep the distances, simply because I am a modest candidate," said Humala during his 2006 election campaign.
In his second run for the presidency, Humala has sought to recast himself as a soft-left leader like Brazil's previous president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In addition, Fujimori, who is backed by the business community and poor women, has said Humala would seek radical changes that could hurt the fast-growing economy if elected, or revise the constitution to allow him to run for consecutive terms.
"Precisely the outcome that we are installing is the binding of many political forces with which we are going to work. We have sharply and publicly demarcated with the Venezuelan government and have indicated that the Venezuelan government is not applicable in Peru. We are not going to apply [it]; for starters because we don't believe in reelection, as governor we are going to govern for five years and not a day more," Humala said.
Booth candidates have worked to appeal to Peru's poor and partly beat out three seasoned moderates in first-round voting on April 10, partly because of poor voters' demands to be included in the country's decade-long economic boom.
Peru is one of the world's fastest growing economies but a third of Peruvians still live in poverty and Humala says he can close the country's gaping social inequalities.
"If growth doesn't reach the poorest families in the country we can't talk about an advancing Peru. If in a country of 29 million, 12 million live in poverty and in extreme poverty, we need to resolve this and therefore we have to adjust economic policy, which is what are political rivals don't like, because they are defending an old model, a model from the last century," Humala said.
Humala came from behind to easily win the first round vote by swaying centrist voters and has since worked to court the trust of investors saying he would respect international accords, serve only one term, and court foreign investment in a country that has lined up $40 billion in mining and oil projects for the next decade.
In a bid to win the trust of Wall Street, Humala has promised to manage an economy seen growing 6.5 percent this year by keeping inflation low, running a balanced budget and respecting the central bank's independence.
He has repeatedly revised his government plan to make it more attractive to investors, dropping a controversial tax increase and a proposal to take over private pension funds.
Humala has said he will remain vigilant and keep his word.
"No, what I am certain of is that we are honest in what we say and I think honesty will make the difference in this election and we are going to keep working like it is the first day of the campaign," Humala said.
In his latest attempt to assuage fears that he has not fully abandoned his radical past Humala publicly pledged on May 19 to respect democracy and the market economy.
In the largely symbolic ceremony in front of a group of dozens of prominent intellectuals, Nobel prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa addressed the crowd by a video feed, urging Peruvians to support Humala over Fujimori.
"Many independent Peruvians have decided to support the candidacy of Ollanta Humala," said Vargas Llosa.
Humala has also been publicly endorsed by former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo who came in fourth place in the first round vote.
"The support of 'Peru Possible' and of Alejandro Toledo is fundamental for the democratic process which is threatened today by a plan that comes from the past, from a dictatorship that was broken up for being immoral and corrupt and that today wants to be reinstalled. Secondly, this consultation allows for stability with the congress of the republic in such a way that today we can talk about constructing a positive plan starting now, and this is precisely what we need to get the discussion and rightly understand what happened in the first round when we got the most votes but not enough of a majority to win in the first round," Humala said.
In the latest Ipsos poll, Fujimori had 50.5 percent of the vote while Humala had 49.5 percent when null and spoiled ballots were excluded from a mock nationwide vote.
In another mock vote, by CPI, Fujimori had 51.8 percent and Humala had 48.2 percent.
Fujimori had a larger lead in a poll by Datum, getting 52.3 percent of the vote to Humala's 47.7 percent.
Ipsos and CPI cautioned that the two were technically tied given each poll's margin of error, though Datum said Fujimori was clearly ahead. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None