1990 Peruvian general election

1990 Peruvian general election
← 1985 1995 →
	Presidential election
President before election; Alan García; APRA	Elected President ; Alberto Fujimori; Cambio 90
	Congressional election
8 April 1990
Senate
Chamber of Deputies

General elections were held in Peru on 8 April 1990, with a second round of the presidential elections on 10 June.^[1] This exercise was to elect the President of the Republic, two vice presidents, and the members of Congress. The elections filled 180 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 60 seats in the Senate for the 1990-1995 governmental period.

The run-off was between favorite, novelist Mario Vargas Llosa leading a coalition of economically liberal parties collectively known as the Democratic Front and political underdog Alberto Fujimori of the populist and more moderate Cambio 90. Vargas Llosa won the first round with a small plurality, but alienated much of the electorate with a comprehensive privatisation agenda, bolstering the allegedly unelectable Fujimori who had finished second ahead of Luis Alva Castro of the ruling APRA party to enter the run-off against Vargas Llosa. Fujimori eventually won a landslide victory and would remain president for ten years until his forced resignation in November 2000.

Background

At the time of the 1990 elections the government of Alan García of the Peruvian Aprista Party (APRA) faced significant public disapproval. This disapproval was due to attempts to nationalize the banking system, purportedly to control rampant inflation that had been uncontrollable since 1987. Garcia's administration was also marred by corruption scandals and a resurgence of terrorist violence, notably from the terrorist organization Shining Path.^[2] Consequently, it was anticipated that the elections would prompt a significant right-wing response.

Presidential candidates

Mario Vargas Llosa, a widely recognized writer, ran as the candidate of the tripartite coalition Democratic Front (FREDEMO). Vargas Llosa was initially favored to win decisively, potentially eliminating the need for a runoff, particularly given the perceived weakness of the incumbent APRA party. APRA nominated Luis Alva Castro, its second vice-president, as its candidate. However, as the campaign progressed, Alberto Fujimori, representing the small new party Cambio 90, began to gain increasing support in the polls. Fujimori's rise was attributed to his moderate profile,^[3] which drew support away from the traditional candidates.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Campaign

During the presidential runoff Fujimori received endorsements from United Left and Socialist Left, along with a faction of the APRA led by García. Vargas Llosa was supported by Ricardo Belmont, the newly elected mayor of Lima, and Ezequiel Ataucusi, the leader of the Agricultural People's Front. Vargas Llosa also received backing from various media outlets and personalities, including the newspaper Expreso, Panamericana Televisión and television host Augusto Ferrando.^[8]

Debates

A debate between Vargas Llosa and Fujimori took place on 3 June 1990 during the runoff campaign.^[9] This was the first televised debate in Peruvian presidential elections.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Opinion polls

President

First round

Pollster	Date	Vargas Llosa	Barrantes	Alva Castro	Pease	Bedoya Reyes	Others	None
Apoyo S.A.^[13]	March 1989	34%	36%	-				30%
Apoyo S.A.^[14]	April 1989	36%	27%	9%	-	-	-	-
Apoyo S.A.^[14]	April 1989	36%	23%	7%	-	-	-	-
Datum^[15]	16 June 1989	46%	4%	8%	18%	-	-	20%
Mercadeo y Opinión^[16]	25 June 1989		38%
Imasen^[15]	26 June 1989	13.7%	18.7%	7.9%	-	5.4%	2.1%	34.4%
Apoyo S.A.^[16]	27 June 1989	44%	19%	-	-	-	-	-
Apoyo S.A.^[14]^[17]	October 1989	47%	14%	8%	7%	-	-	-
Imasen^[18]	November 1989	52%	10.5%	4.7%	5.4%	-	2.3%	-

Results

Due to mandatory voting laws voter turnout was high, reaching 78% in the presidential election but notably lower in the legislative elections, with 68% for the Chamber of Deputies and 69% for the Senate. Voter turnout for the presidential runoff was slightly higher than in the first round at 80%.

President

In the first round Vargas Llosa received 33% of the votes, while Fujimori, who had initially polled at 1%, significantly increased his support to secure second place with 29% of the vote. Alva Castro of the incumbent APRA party finished in third place with 22% of the vote, the first time that the APRA candidate did not finish first or second in a free election. No other candidate exceeded 10% of the vote; the two main left-wing candidates representing United Left and Socialist Left finished in fourth and fifth place with 8% and 5% of the vote respectively.

As no candidate received more than 50% of the valid vote in the first round, a runoff was necessary for the first time in Peruvian history. Fujimori achieved a decisive victory with 62% of the vote, making him the first elected president since the restoration of democracy to secure over half of the total vote. Vargas Llosa saw a small increase in support from the first round, receiving 38% of the vote.^[4] Although Vargas Llosa had won across the country in the first round, in the runoff he only received a majority of the vote in the department of Loreto.


Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Mario Vargas Llosa	Democratic Front	2,163,323	32.57	2,708,291	37.62
	Alberto Fujimori	Cambio 90	1,932,208	29.09	4,489,897	62.38
	Luis Alva Castro	American Popular Revolutionary Alliance	1,494,231	22.50
	Henry Pease	United Left	544,889	8.20
	Alfonso Barrantes	Socialist Left	315,038	4.74
	Roger Cáceres [es]	National Front of Workers and Peasants	86,418	1.30
	Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal	Agricultural People's Front of Peru	73,974	1.11
	Dora Narrea [es]	Odriist National Union	21,962	0.33
	Nicolás de Pierola Balta	Democratic Union	9,541	0.14
Total			6,641,584	100.00	7,198,188	100.00

Valid votes			6,641,584	84.75	7,198,188	90.45
Invalid/blank votes			1,195,532	15.25	760,044	9.55
Total votes			7,837,116	100.00	7,958,232	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			10,013,225	78.27	10,007,614	79.52
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Deputies

FREDEMO emerged as the largest party in both chambers, securing 20 senators and 62 deputies. Despite its presidential candidate finishing third, the APRA maintained its position as the second-largest party, winning 17 senate seats and 53 deputy seats. Cambio 90 led by Fujimori finished third, capturing 14 Senate seats and 32 in the Chamber of Deputies.



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Front	1,561,291	30.03	62	+40
	American Popular Revolutionary Alliance	1,288,461	24.78	53	–54
	Cambio 90	879,949	16.93	32	New
	United Left	510,557	9.82	16	–32
	Independent Moralizing Front	309,263	5.95	7	New
	Socialist Left	272,591	5.24	4	New
	National Front of Workers and Peasants	126,067	2.42	3	+2
	Agricultural People's Front of Peru	63,450	1.22	0	New
	Independent Civic Union	33,819	0.65	0	New
	Loreto Regionalist Movement	24,854	0.48	1	+1
	Tacneñista Front	17,642	0.34	1	New
	Popular Agreement Independent List	14,547	0.28	1	New
	In Action Independent Movement	12,614	0.24	0	New
	Odriist National Union	10,413	0.20	0	New
	Democratic Union	7,738	0.15	0	New
	Nationalist Independent Front	6,106	0.12	0	New
	Hayist Bases Movement	5,607	0.11	0	New
	National Reconstruction Movement	5,588	0.11	0	New
	Independent Democratic Front	4,780	0.09	0	New
	Independent Social Movement	4,348	0.08	0	New
	Lima Defence Front – Provinces	3,739	0.07	0	New
	Independent Front of Retirees	3,477	0.07	0	New
	Chavin Region	3,416	0.07	0	New
	Democratic Alliance	3,204	0.06	0	New
	Democratic Agrarian Front "Atusparia"	3,016	0.06	0	New
	Velasquista Movement	2,228	0.04	0	New
	National Cooperation	2,136	0.04	0	New
	Independent List of Socialist Workers	1,942	0.04	0	New
	Amazonense Independent Movement	1,459	0.03	0	New
	Renewal Union of Peru	1,312	0.03	0	New
	Huascaran	1,221	0.02	0	New
	National Democratic Unity	1,025	0.02	0	New
	United	1,020	0.02	0	New
	Victors of Ayacucho	985	0.02	0	New
	Chalaco Regional Movement	925	0.02	0	New
	Independent Solidarity Movement	913	0.02	0	New
	Integration Movement for the Development of Huanuco	817	0.02	0	New
	Popular Renewal Movement	772	0.01	0	New
	Porteño Renovation Movement	735	0.01	0	New
	Independent Democratic Movement	675	0.01	0	New
	Lambayecano Independent Movement	671	0.01	0	New
	Independent Agreement for National Development	597	0.01	0	New
	North-East Agrarian Movement	578	0.01	0	New
	Andean Nationalist Left	502	0.01	0	New
	Impetu Regional Independent Movement	398	0.01	0	New
	Independent Popular Peruvian Alliance	375	0.01	0	New
	PASOP party	357	0.01	0	New
	Independent Democratic Organisation	342	0.01	0	New
	Advanced Democratic Integration	332	0.01	0	New
	Independent Civic Front Strength and Freedom	157	0.00	0	New
	Independent Democratic Socialist Party	92	0.00	0	New
Total		5,199,103	100.00	180	0

Source: CLEA

By constituency

Constituency	Total seats	FREDEMO	APRA	Cambio 90	United Left	Others
Amazonas	3	1	2	0	0	0
Ancash	9	2	4	2	1	0
Apurimac	3	1	0	0	2	0
Arequipa	9	3	2	2	1	1
Ayacucho	4	1	2	0	1	0
Cajamarca	10	3	5	0	1	1
Callao	7	3	2	2	0	0
Cusco	8	2	1	3	2	0
Huancavelica	3	2	0	1	0	0
Huanuco	4	2	1	1	0	0
Ica	6	2	2	1	1	0
Junin	10	4	1	5	0	0
La Libertad	11	2	8	1	0	0
Lambayeque	8	3	5	0	0	0
Lima 1	9	3	3	2	1	0
Lima 2	40	14	6	9	2	9
Loreto	5	3	1	0	0	1
Madre De Dios	1	0	0	0	1	0
Moquegua	1	0	0	0	1	0
Pasco	2	2	0	0	0	0
Piura	11	4	5	0	1	1
Puno	8	1	1	3	1	2
San Martin	3	2	1	0	0	0
Tacna	2	1	0	0	0	1
Tumbes	1	0	1	0	0	0
Ucayali	2	1	0	0	0	1
Source: CLEA

Senate



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Front	1,772,953	32.06	20	+7
	American Popular Revolutionary Alliance	1,387,931	25.09	16	–14
	Cambio 90	1,200,459	21.70	14	New
	United Left	540,620	9.77	6	–9
	Socialist Left	302,110	5.46	3	New
	National Front of Workers and Peasants	112,142	2.03	1	0
	Agricultural People's Front of Peru	63,694	1.15	0	New
	Somos Libres	50,430	0.91	0	New
	Independent Civic Union	45,046	0.81	0	New
	Odriist National Union	16,349	0.30	0	–1
	Hayist Bases Movement	13,531	0.24	0	New
	Independent Front of Retirees	8,994	0.16	0	New
	Democratic Union	7,805	0.14	0	New
	National Co-operation	3,969	0.07	0	New
	Solidarity Independent Movement	3,088	0.06	0	New
	Honorary Confederation of Independent Organised Struggle	1,779	0.03	0	New
Former presidents				2	+1
Total		5,530,900	100.00	62	+1

Valid votes		5,530,900	80.53
Invalid/blank votes		1,336,963	19.47
Total votes		6,867,863	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		10,013,225	68.59
Source: JNE

Aftermath

The two chambers of the elected Congress in Peru were unable to complete their constitutional terms due to a self-coup by Fujimori on 5 April 1992, in which he dissolved Congress and intervened in the judiciary,^[19] effectively suspending the constitutional governance. Following the coup, Fujimori governed with full powers until the end of 1993, when a Democratic Constituent Congress was inaugurated. Despite the political upheaval, Fujimori completed his term and was re-elected in 1995. This period of governance led to significant constitutional reform, including the abolition of the Senate. As a result, the 1990 elections were the last for the bicameral parliament.

References

^ Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p454 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
^ "Outsider Presidents and Neophyte Ministers: Evidence from the Fujimori Example" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ Schmidt, Gregory D (April 1996). "Fujimori's 1990 Upset Victory in Peru: Electoral Rules, Contingencies, and Adaptive Strategies". Comparative Politics. 28 (3): 321–354. doi:10.2307/422210. JSTOR 422210. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b "1990 Elections: Demons and Redeemers in the New Peru" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ "Fujimori's Annunciation: Alan Garcia 1985-1990" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ Comas, Jose (Apr 7, 1990). "'Chinito' Fujimori is hot on Vargas Llosa's heels". el Pais. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ "Political Theory and History". Journal of Political Science. 38: 1. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ Godoy, Jose Alejandro; Romero, Ezequiel (2021). The Last Dictator. Penguin. p. 659. ISBN 9786124272769. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
^ Comas, Jose (June 4, 1990). "Side by side in Peru, despite Vargas Llosa's triumph over Fujimori on television". el Pais. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ de la Garza Estrada, German. "History of debates in Latin America". Excelsior. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ "25 years after the first presidential debate in Peru". El Comercio. June 3, 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ Vargas Llosa, Mario; Fujimori, Alberto (November 1990). "The Debate: Complete Version of the Debate Held Between the Candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, at the Civic Center of Lima, on June 3, 1990". Repositorio de la Universidad del Pacífico - up. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
^ Adrianzén, Alberto, ed. (2011). Apogeo y crisis de la izquierda peruana. Hablan sus protagonistas (PDF). IDEA Internacional. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lynch, Nicolás (1999). Una tragedia sin héroes: la derrota de los partidos y el origen de los independientes. Perú, 1980-1992 (PDF). Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.
^ ^a ^b Bueno León, Eduardo. "El fenómeno Fujimori y la crisis política en el Perú" (PDF). América Latina Hoy. 3 (1992): Partidos Políticos y Elecciones (II), Artículos Monográficos.
^ ^a ^b Ruiz Caro, Efraín (1990). La tercera colonización. La Voz.
^ Tanaka, Martín (1998). Los espejismos de la democracia: el colapso del sistema de partidos en el Perú, 1980-1995, en perspectiva comparada. IEP.
^ Oiga (in Spanish). Empresa Editora Eusko-Andina. 1989. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
^ Wills, Maria Emma; Pinto, Maria Teresa. "Peru's Failed Search for Political Stability (1968-2000)" (PDF). Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[N1-1] Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p454 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3

[Corteidh-2] "Outsider Presidents and Neophyte Ministers: Evidence from the Fujimori Example" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Schmidt-3] Schmidt, Gregory D (April 1996). "Fujimori's 1990 Upset Victory in Peru: Electoral Rules, Contingencies, and Adaptive Strategies". Comparative Politics. 28 (3): 321–354. doi:10.2307/422210. JSTOR 422210. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Demons_and_Redeemers-4] "1990 Elections: Demons and Redeemers in the New Peru" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Annunciation-5] "Fujimori's Annunciation: Alan Garcia 1985-1990" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Comas-6] Comas, Jose (Apr 7, 1990). "'Chinito' Fujimori is hot on Vargas Llosa's heels". el Pais. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Journal_of_Political_Science-7] "Political Theory and History". Journal of Political Science. 38: 1. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Godoy-8] Godoy, Jose Alejandro; Romero, Ezequiel (2021). The Last Dictator. Penguin. p. 659. ISBN 9786124272769. Retrieved 22 September 2024.

[Comas_2-9] Comas, Jose (June 4, 1990). "Side by side in Peru, despite Vargas Llosa's triumph over Fujimori on television". el Pais. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[Garza_Estrada-10] Garza Estrada, German. "History of debates in Latin America". Excelsior. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[El_Comercio-11] "25 years after the first presidential debate in Peru". El Comercio. June 3, 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[The_Debate-12] Vargas Llosa, Mario; Fujimori, Alberto (November 1990). "The Debate: Complete Version of the Debate Held Between the Candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, at the Civic Center of Lima, on June 3, 1990". Repositorio de la Universidad del Pacífico - up. Retrieved 21 September 2024.

[13] Adrianzén, Alberto, ed. (2011). Apogeo y crisis de la izquierda peruana. Hablan sus protagonistas (PDF). IDEA Internacional. Retrieved 6 October 2023.

[:2-14] Lynch, Nicolás (1999). Una tragedia sin héroes: la derrota de los partidos y el origen de los independientes. Perú, 1980-1992 (PDF). Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

[:3-15] Bueno León, Eduardo. "El fenómeno Fujimori y la crisis política en el Perú" (PDF). América Latina Hoy. 3 (1992): Partidos Políticos y Elecciones (II), Artículos Monográficos.

[Sin-nombre-p3LI-1-16] Ruiz Caro, Efraín (1990). La tercera colonización. La Voz.

[:4-17] Tanaka, Martín (1998). Los espejismos de la democracia: el colapso del sistema de partidos en el Perú, 1980-1995, en perspectiva comparada. IEP.

[18] Oiga (in Spanish). Empresa Editora Eusko-Andina. 1989. Retrieved 2022-07-12.

[Wills-19] Wills, Maria Emma; Pinto, Maria Teresa. "Peru's Failed Search for Political Stability (1968-2000)" (PDF). Retrieved 22 September 2024.

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