Elections were held in Peru three weeks ago. The Electoral Commission there has still to finalise the votes, but about 98 per cent have now been counted and approved. The slowness of the count has become a source of political debate.

The main news story concerns the race for the mayor of Lima. With the ONPE reporting 99.8% of votes counted, Susana Villarán, the left-wing candidate of the Partido Descentralista Fuerza Social (Social Force), has a small but decisive lead over her conservative rival, Lourdes Flores, of the Partido Popular Cristiano (Christian People’s Party). The problem for Villarán is that the overall authority may not have a majority for her party, though various smaller parties have pledged to support her.

There will be a second round of voting to elect the presidents of the country’s regional councils. The key lesson from these elections seems to be that regional and independent candidates have done well and that established parties have fared badly. The party of President Garcia, APRA, is ahead in just one region.

With 91% of votes counted in the referendum, the ‘yes’ vote is easily ahead. Living in Peru outlines the aim of the referendum: “The referendum was held to decide whether the Peruvian state had to return the money that workers had invested in a national housing fund (Fonavi) between 1979 and 1998. The Fonavi funds were seized and redirected by former president Alberto Fujimori’s government. The press has estimated the amount of these funds to be between 20 and 30 billion soles (between U.S. $7.2 and $10.8 billion)”.