Her opponent is a leftist who promises to redistribute wealth, so there's a good chance that those who voted against Ollanta Humala this time around will rally around Ms Fujimori on June 5. That is, in fact, how her father first one the presidency in the 1990s.
I find Peru's politics interesting for two reasons. First, it demonstrates the relative acceptance of the descendants of East Asian immigrants, particularly from Japan. Second, and more importantly to me, the run-off system employed there provides one viable alternative to South Korea's win-by-plurality system, in which a relatively unpopular candidate can still win if more popular (or less offensive) politicians from different parts of the spectrum fail to decide on a single candidate.
South American countries like Peru's biggest ethnic problems are not with Asians; it is with its indigenous, which number a majority in Peru's case, yet live like they are in the middle of the DRC. Sheer inequality.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for Keiko, she is the Peruvian version of Park Gun Hye - the only reason she is popular is because her dictador daddy gets credit for the current economic growth. Too bad when people ask, "So if you are pres., will you pardon your Dad?", she either avoids the question, or gives off insulting answers like "My Dad did I lot of good things for Peru!"
Yeah, like killing off his dissidents.
Observador, thanks for the comment. I myself have wondered at the high number of parallels between Ms Fujimori and Ms Park.
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