Peru Debates With 35 Candidates and No Frontrunner

The second night of Peru’s presidential debate series put eleven candidates on stage in Lima, with none polling above single digits and most struggling to break through in a historically crowded race. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, reports on what the debates reveal about the state of the Peru election with less than three weeks until voters head to the polls.

How Peru’s Marathon Debate Works

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones organized the debate cycle across six evenings in two rounds, with roughly twelve candidates per session. The first round runs from March 23 to 25 and covers security and corruption. A second round from March 30 to April 1 will address economic policy and governance.

With 35 candidates on the ballot following the death of one contender, the format groups participants into sets of three for direct exchanges, followed by citizen questions and closing statements. Each evening lasts about two and a half hours, broadcast on state television and streamed online.

Day Two Highlights in the Peru Election Debate

Tuesday’s session featured George Forsyth of Somos Perú, who distanced himself from former President José Jerí — a member of his own party — calling the Congress that installed Jerí as president “corrupt” and insisting the party never endorsed his elevation. Roberto Sánchez of Juntos por el Perú used his platform to defend former President Pedro Castillo, calling him a political prisoner and denouncing what he described as a corrupt pact controlling the justice system.

Other participants included former Lima mayor Ricardo Belmont, who recalled his municipal tenure as a model for fighting corruption, and Álvaro Paz de la Barra, who branded himself an “antisystem” candidate and called for a new plurinational constitution. Fugitive candidate Vladimir Cerrón of Perú Libre, who faces a prison sentence, was absent as expected — the electoral authority does not permit virtual participation or substitution.

A Frontrunner Duel Postponed

The debate’s structural problem is that it separates candidates by lottery rather than polling strength, meaning the two leading contenders — Rafael López Aliaga and Keiko Fujimori — appeared on day one but never directly confronted each other. Both poll around 10–12%, the only candidates in double digits in a field where over 40% of voters remain undecided.

The second round in late March and early April will address economic policy and could offer clearer differentiation. But with most Peruvians making their voting decision in the final week before the ballot, the debates may matter less for policy substance than for generating viral moments or gaffes that shift last-minute polling.

What Investors Should Watch

Peru has cycled through eight presidents since 2018, with four former heads of state currently imprisoned. The latest, José Jerí, was removed by Congress in February after undisclosed meetings with a Chinese businessman, lasting just four months in office. This level of institutional instability shapes investor expectations for continuity regardless of who wins.

The April 12 first round is almost certain to produce a June 7 runoff, and the real question remains which two candidates will survive the field. With the debates doing little to consolidate alternatives, the race looks increasingly likely to come down to López Aliaga and Fujimori.

That outcome would leave Peru’s fragmented center and left without representation in the final round, potentially deepening the political alienation that has defined the country since 2018. The third and final day of this week’s debates takes place on Wednesday, before the cycle resumes on March 30.