LIMA: Former Wall Street executive Pedro Pablo Kuczynski held a razor-thin lead over Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of an imprisoned former authoritarian leader in a vote that was shaping up to be Peru's closest presidential election in at least three decades.
With 91 percent of all votes counted on Monday, Kuczynski - known in Peru by his initials PPK - had 50.32 percent support while Fujimori trailed on 49.68 percent.
The gap narrowed from a previous tally.
The campaign pitted the Fujimori family's brand of right-wing populism against Kuczynski's elite background and stiff technocratic style. It was unclear when final results would be announced, and Peru has previously taken days to count ballots.
Kuczynski's press representative told Reuters the candidate would only speak to journalists when 100 percent of votes had been counted or the electoral office ONPE called the election.
Mariano Cucho, the head of ONPE, urged Peruvians to wait "with calm and prudence" for the final numbers, saying ballots from voters living abroad had not been counted.
Making up 3.86 percent of the electorate, foreign-based voters mostly live in the United States where Kuczynski stumped for votes at the start of his second-round campaign.
Ballots from some far-flung provinces also had yet to be counted, including in the southern Andes where Kuczynski swept up support and in sparsely-populated jungle regions where Fujimori is popular.
About 1.5 percent of ballots are in dispute and will be settled by an electoral board, ONPE said.
Fujimori had long been the favorite to win the election, but Kuczynski, caught up with her in the final days of the campaign as Peruvians weighed the legacy of her father former president Alberto Fujimori and fresh scandals involving her close advisers.
Peruvian financial markets did not react strongly to the partial results, as both candidates' platforms were considered favorable to investors.
Many Peruvians credit Alberto Fujimori with defeating violent Shining Path rebels and building schools and hospitals in rural areas when he was president in 1990-2000.
But his authoritarian style divided the country and he is now serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and human rights abuses.
Kuczynski, a 77-year-old former prime minister, investor and World Bank economist, portrayed himself as an honest and experienced leader who would clean up corruption, ensure every town in Peru has piped water and revive economic growth that has slowed on weaker prices for Peru's mineral exports.
Despite endorsing Fujimori during her first presidential bid in 2011, Kuczynski earned the support of her critics from across the political spectrum and stepped up attacks against her in the final days of campaigning. "We want a democratic country, a country committed to dialogue!" a jubilant Kuczynski said as he waved to supporters from a balcony at his campaign headquarters on Sunday evening before the partial count was announced.
His party mascot - dressed as a guinea pig - danced with volunteers and his campaign song cranked out the chorus "PPK is rising, rising!"
In an emotional speech on Sunday evening, Fujimori was also upbeat, saying the polls showed a technical tie and votes that were expected to come in slowly from Peru's most remote regions would favor her.
"This is a tight vote without a doubt ... what we're seeing is the vitality of democracy in our country, and that fills me with pride," Fujimori said as she gave the crowd the thumbs-up.
"BETTER OFF"
If he wins, Kuczynski will have to reckon with a solid majority of Fujimori's party in Congress and a leftist party that has promised not to align with either of them.
Fujimori, 41, a former congresswoman, has spent years trying to broaden her appeal beyond loyalists to her controversial father in her bid to become Peru's first female president.
She ousted her father's staunchest defenders from her party's congressional ticket at the start of her campaign, criticized his decision to shutter Congress in 1992 and stepped up campaigning in provinces she lost to leftist candidate Ollanta Humala five years ago.
Still, many voters remained wary, especially after a senior aide stepped down amid allegations that linked him to money laundering and drug trafficking.
Fujimori has defended her team and said her party was the victim of a smear campaign. Journalists later accused Fujimori's running mate of feeding them a doctored audio tape in a bid to discredit a source - a reminder of the days when her father's advisers bribed tabloids to sway public opinion.
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