Ricardo Belmont Explains Why He Skipped Voting in 2026 Peru Elections

Ricardo Belmont, the 80-year-old presidential candidate and former mayor of Lima, did not cast his vote in the first round of Peru’s presidential election on April 12, 2026. Following the election, Belmont announced the conclusion of his political ambitions and predicted a fourth electoral defeat for right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori.

Belmont, the oldest candidate in the race, signaled his departure from Peruvian politics by stating, Me voy, ya terminó mi pelea (“I’m leaving, my fight is over”), according to reporting from Infobae. This announcement aligns with a previous promise made by the businessman and former mayor to leave Peru if he did not secure victory in the 2026 presidential contest.

The candidate’s absence from the polls was accompanied by the cancellation of his traditional electoral breakfast, a detail noted by El Comercio Perú. Despite his failure to vote and the subsequent announcement of his exit, Belmont’s wife has stated that he remains in good health.

A Record-Breaking and Volatile Race

The April 12 election took place against a backdrop of extreme political instability. Peru is currently seeking its ninth president in less than a decade, with only one leader completing a full term during that period. According to Al Jazeera, nearly all recent presidents have either been imprisoned or subjected to criminal investigations, primarily centered on allegations of corruption.

The 2026 race featured a historically crowded field, with 35 candidates appearing on the ballot. This large number of options contributed to a jumbo-sized ballot that included candidates’ photos and party symbols, a practice maintained to accommodate voters in a society with historically low literacy levels, as reported by NPR.

Voters, totaling approximately 27 million people, faced a political landscape defined by apathy and fury toward the political class. Many of the 35 candidates remained largely unknown, with some registering less than one percent of support. Because of the fragmented field, political analysts indicated that a run-off election in June between the top two candidates was nearly inevitable.

The Position of Keiko Fujimori

Leading the candidates going into the first round was Keiko Fujimori. The daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, she has attempted to balance her campaign by leveraging her father’s record of defeating the Maoist Shining Path insurgents and curbing hyperinflation, while simultaneously distancing herself from his administration’s kleptocracy and human rights abuses.

Despite holding a narrow lead in the early stages of the election, Fujimori has been the target of predictions from rivals like Belmont, who forecast that she will face her fourth consecutive loss in her pursuit of the presidency.

Belmont’s Campaign and Critique

Prior to the vote, Ricardo Belmont positioned himself as a conservative alternative capable of breaking the cycle of political tumult. On April 7, 2026, Belmont closed his campaign with a speech delivered from a balcony in Lima’s historic San Martin Square.

We are no longer a nation. We are just surrogates for these corrupt parties.

Ricardo Belmont

During this address, Belmont urged his supporters to eliminate the corruption that has gripped the country over the last ten years. While he initially had a lower profile than other candidates, he had emerged in the final days of the campaign as one of the viable contenders potentially capable of reaching the run-off.

The current political environment in Peru remains volatile, with voters expressing exhaustion over the revolving door of leadership. The results of the April 12 first round will determine which two candidates will compete in the June run-off to decide the nation’s next president.