Peru’s leftist presidential hopeful Roberto Sanchez has officially made the cut to compete in that highly anticipated runoff election, yes. The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) says Sanchez sailed through to the final stage of voting just a few hours after he was formally indicted for serious campaign finance violations. It’s like, the timeline is tight, almost too tight. 

Tight Race Sets the Stage for June Runoff

Sanchez secured his spot by sort of barely beating far-right contender Rafael Lopez Aliaga. Official figures from the Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE) indicate Sanchez took 12 percent of the vote, and he slid past Lopez Aliaga’s 11.9 percent, with a razor-thin gap of 18,799 votes.

Now he’s set to go against conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori in the decisive runoff on June 7. Fujimori actually led the first round, racking up 17.1 percent. This election feels very consequential for the Republic of Peru, a country still seeking political steadiness after going through eight different heads over the last decade.

As for Lopez Aliaga, he has publicly said the original tally was fraudulent, but international observers really do not agree. The European Union Election Observation Mission stated the process is in good standing, and that kind of dispelled the claims of broad fraud once and for all.

Looming Legal Troubles and Campaign Finance Allegations

Even with his electoral wins, Sanchez has been hit by a lot of legal scrutiny, kind of steady and intense. The Peru Ministerio Público recently brought formal charges against him, saying his campaign finance practices violated the rules, and they’re officially asking for a prison term longer than five years.

The case, as laid out, focuses on alleged weird inconsistencies inside his political party’s financial statements covering 2018 to 2020. Prosecutors argue that Sanchez should be held responsible for false declarations during administrative proceedings and for altering key details about financial inputs. More concretely, they say he took in more than $57,000 in campaign money that was never reported.

Sanchez, for his part, has denied everything strongly, and he went to social media to say that “there was never any fraud or misappropriation.” He says this is a politically driven move to blunt his momentum and discredit him ahead of the runoff.

A judge will hold a hearing on May 27, and that session should decide if this attention-grabbing matter moves forward to trial.