Peru election: Partial results point to run-off vote

Ollanta Humala has been likened to Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez

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Partial results in Peru's presidential election give left-wing former army officer Ollanta Humala the lead, but without the 50% of votes needed to avoid a second round.

With 43% of votes counted Mr Humala has 27%, with former Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on 23.6%.

Keiko Fujimori, daughter of disgraced ex-leader Alberto Fujimori, has 21.8%.

Observers from the Organization of American States say no major logistical difficulties affected the election.

The results so far declared are mainly from cities and towns.

Full unofficial results compiled by the election watchdog Transparencia give Mr Humala a clear lead, with Ms Fujimori. If that is confirmed, there will be a run-off election for those two candidates on 5 June.

Former President Alejandro Toledo is also contesting the election.

Outgoing President Alan Garcia could not stand for a second term and his Apra party did not put forward a candidate.

Peru is enjoying an economic boom and the campaign focused on how to maintain growth while tackling widespread poverty.

'Aids or cancer'

Ollanta Humala, 48, who came second to Mr Garcia in 2006, campaigned on a promise to increase the state's role in the economy and redistribute wealth to Peru's poor majority.

Keiko Fujimori says she wants to continue her father's legacy

His critics have compared him to Venezuela's left-wing President Hugo Chavez, but he has emphasised links with Brazil's governing Workers' Party.

Keiko Fujimori, 35, appealed to voters who still admire her father, president for a decade from 1990. He is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for corruption and organising death squads.

She has defended his record, saying that by taming hyper-inflation and defeating Marxist Shining Path rebels, he laid the basis for Peru's current economic boom.

The prospect of a run-off between Mr Humala and Ms Fujimori has worried some Peruvians, including the Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, who has said it would be like "choosing between Aids and cancer".

Mr Vargas Llosa is an outspoken critic of left-wing politics and himself stood for president in 1990 only to be defeated by Alberto Fujimori.

On the eve of the election, Apra gave its support to Mr Kuczynski, 72.