Peru conservative Opus Dei businessman elected mayor of Lima By Reuters

LIMA (Reuters) -Conservative businessman Rafael Lopez Aliaga gained a intently contested election to grow to be mayor of Peru’s capital Lima on Monday after his rival, retired navy officer Daniel Urresti, accepted his defeat.

In his first public statements since Sunday’s election, Lopez Aliaga stated he would look ahead to the ultimate official outcomes earlier than asking his rivals to work collectively, and calling for leftist President Pedro Castillo to step down amid an investigation of alleged corruption in opposition to him.

“I might ask Castillo to resign, for the nice of Peru,” stated Lopez Aliaga, a resort businessman.

With 97.6% of ballots counted, Lopez Aliaga led with 26.287% of votes, the Nationwide Workplace of Electoral Processes (ONPE) stated on its web site.

His closest rival, retired navy officer Daniel Urresti, who’s on trial for allegedly collaborating within the homicide of a media employee in 1988, was simply behind with 25.379% of the votes.

The distinction between the 2 candidates sits at about 47,400 votes.

Lopez Aliaga heads the conservative Well-liked Renovation social gathering and is a staunch opponent of Castillo. The conservative politician ran for the presidency in 2021 and got here third in these elections.

The conservative businessman considers himself a “pro-life” politician and can also be identified for his assaults on the homosexual neighborhood and for being in opposition to abortion and gender ideology.

Lopez Aliaga’s victory in Lima, the place a 3rd of the nation’s voters are concentrated, in addition to doubtless victories by independents in regional votes in Peru’s inside departments, is a harsh defeat for the Marxist Peru Libre social gathering that helped propel Castillo to the presidency.

Lima, with 10.5 million inhabitants, faces vital challenges in citizen insecurity in addition to poverty on the town’s outskirts and a dearth of well being and training providers.

Along with the mayor’s workplace for Lima, Peruvians elected some 13,000 native authorities, together with governors of the nation’s 25 areas. It was not but clear on Monday who can be the winners in the primary mining areas, which register report earnings from taxes and royalties.

Peru is the world’s second largest producer of .