Chamber:
	Congreso de la República
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	9 April 2000
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 9 April 2000 parliamentary elections, which were held simultaneously with the presidential poll, were a highly charged process during which rival candidates accused President Alberto Fujimori of fraud. The President's bid for re-election had been controversial since the adoption in 1996 of a law allowing him to seek a third, consecutive term not foreseen in the Constitution. In the days after the vote, as the count dragged on, tens of thousands of supporters of Mr Fujimori's main rival, Mr Alejandro Toledo, rallied in Lima and other major cities, leading to fears that violence would erupt in the event of an outright victory by Mr Fujimori. In the Congress, Mr Fujimori's Peru 2000 alliance lost its absolute majority. According to the results it had won 52 seats, as against 29 for candidates of Mr Toledo's Peru Possible. The Moralising Independent Front (FIM) and the "Somos Perú" Movement won 9 seats each while a number of small parties won the remaining 21 seats. For the presidential poll, final results announced in late April showed that neither candidate was clearly ahead, making a second round inevitable. In the second round, held on 28 May 2000, Mr. Fujimori had a comfortable victory for a third five-year term in office as opposition candidate Alejandro Toledo had pulled out of the contest, arguing that the election would be rigged in favour of the President. International observers declared that they fell short of what was required to ensure a fully democratic process, pointing out that Mr Fujimori had campaigned with government funds and had limited his opponents' access to major news media. They also cited cases in which ballot sheets at several polling stations had been tampered with. The Organization of American States withdrew its observers before the poll, saying that the process would not be free or fair. The US condemned the process and cast doubt on Mr Fujimori's legitimacy. On 28 July 2000, Alberto Fujimori was sworn in for a third term in office under tight security after a series of major anti-government protests were held in Lima. After a scandal over a videotape allegedly showing his intelligence chief, Mr. Montesinos, bribing an opposition congressman to support the government, President Fujimori announced on 16 November 2000 that he would call new elections and that he would not be a candidate. Four days later, after international and national pressure, President Fujimori presented his resignation from Japan, where he had gone on official mission. He has since not returned to Peru. The following day, all his cabinet resigned also and Mr Valentín Paniagua, Speaker of the Congress, assumed ad interim the Presidency of the Republic.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (9 April 2000): Elections results
Number of registered electors	11 480 006
Voters	9 132 842 (80 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	1 302 040
Valid votes	7 830 802

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Perú 2000	3 273 525	41.80
"Perú Posible" Party	1 788 343	22.84
Independent Moralizing Front (FIM)	617 868	7.89
"Somos Perú" Movement	571 951	7.30
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA)	457 095	5.84
National solidarity	335 116	4.28
Union for Peru (UPP)	200 617	2.56
AVANCEMOS	248 497	3.17
Popular Action (AP)	171 036	2.18
Popular Agricultural Front (FPA)	166 754	2.13

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Perú 2000	52
"Perú Posible" Party	29
Independent Moralizing Front (FIM)	9
"Somos Perú" Movement	9
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA)	6
National solidarity	4
Union for Peru (UPP)	3
AVANCEMOS	3
Popular Action (AP)	3
Popular Agricultural Front (FPA)	2

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	96
Women:	24
Percent of women:	20.00