Keiko Fujimori drew first blood in the presidential debate held in the northern region of Piura on 22 May. She was aggressive and energetic. By contrast it was a lacklustre performance by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, her rival in the second-round run-off on 5 June, who had been handed a gift heading into the debate, after Fujimori was forced to jettison Joaquín Ramírez, the secretary general of her party, Fuerza Popular (FP), after he was implicated in a money-laundering scandal [WR-16-19], appointing her running mate, José Chlimper, in his stead in an interim capacity. But it was Kuczynski who seemed to be on the defensive more often, like an aging prizefighter against a more nimble opponent. End of preview - This article contains approximately 645 words.
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