LIMA, April 10 (UPI) -- Peru appeared set Monday for a two-way presidential runoff election between a nationalist ex-army officer and one of two contenders running neck-and-neck.
With 59 percent of the votes counted, Ollanta Humala was leading narrowly with 28 percent of the vote. He was followed by conservative Lourdes Flores in second place with 26 percent, and former President Alan Garcia with 25 percent, the BBC said. There were 17 other candidates running for president.
Polls have shown that Flores would beat Humala in May's runoff, but that Humala would win if he were to face García, the Washington Post reported.
The constitution requires a candidate to win by 50 percent plus one vote in national elections, in which voting is mandatory for the country's 16.5 million registered voters.
Humala, 43, promised to crack down on foreign multinationals and to spread the wealth among the nation's 27 million people, half of whom live in poverty.
Flores is an attorney and former congresswoman, while Garcia's 1985-1990 socialist administration was marked by hyperinflation and rebel violence.
Voters also cast ballots Sunday for two vice-presidents and 120 congressional lawmakers.
