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Keiko Fujimori’s party wins Senate presidency in Peru ahead of presidential inauguration

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The Popular Force party, led by Peru’s President-elect Keiko Fujimori, won the Senate presidency on Sunday in an alliance with another conservative party, paving the way for the incoming government.

Miguel Torres was elected president of the Senate with 30 votes — out of a total of 60 senators— in alliance with the right-wing Popular Renewal party, whose member, Alejandro Muñante, won the first vice presidency.

After reinstating the bicameral system for the first time in more than three decades, Peru’s Congress is defining its leadership two days before Fujimori’s July 28 presidential inauguration for the 2026-2031 term.

The leadership of the lower house, composed of 130 deputies, will be elected in the upcoming hours.

Torres said during his swearing-in ceremony that the goal is to have a “more prudent” state and to regain the trust of its citizens.

The new bicameral Congress faces the challenge of overcoming the governance crisis that has prevailed in the Andean nation and has seen eight presidents come and go in the last decade. None of the political forces hold a majority.

Torres, a lawyer and politician with a legislative career from 2016 to 2020, will preside over the Senate for one year. He is also Peru’s second vice president-elect, having been elected in the recent elections alongside Fujimori and first vice president Luis Galarreta.

Peru’s Congress will officially begin its annual legislative session on Monday.

Keiko Fujimori is inaugurated as Peru’s president following a narrow election victory

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Conservative leader Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru’s president on Tuesday after winning the June presidential runoff by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes, a victory that confirmed a regional shift in South America toward the conservative wing. With the ceremony, Fujimori, a four-time presidential candidate and leader of Peru's largest political party, takes office as the country's ninth president in a decade. The 51-year-old is hoping to stabilize Peru's turbulent politics, reduce crime and boost economic growth. Over the past decade, only three of Peru’s presidents have been elected by popular vote. The rest have come into office after their predecessors resigned or were removed by congress amid protests or corruption scandals. Fujimori’s Popular Force party and its main ally, Popular Renovation, will hold half the Senate seats once the new legislature is installed, making it harder for opposing legislators to attempt to remove her as president.
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