Chamber:
	Congreso de la República
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	8 April 2001
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all seats in the House of Assembly following the premature dissolution of this body. General elections had previously been held in April 2000.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 16 September 2000, the then President Alberto Fujimori announced early elections in which he would not take part. This announcement followed the release of a videotape implicating Vladimiro Montesinos, the former head of the National Intelligence Service, in a corruption scandal. President Fujimori, the longest-serving president in Latin America, took advantage of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum summit in Brunei to flee to Japan and announce his resignation as President of Peru on 17 November 2000. Mr Fujimori's departure had been prompted by statements to the media by Mr Montesinos with whom he had been engaged in a protracted power struggle. In his statements Mr Montesinos had threatened to reveal the role of the President in their "shared history", most notably the existence of a network of secret Swiss bank accounts and alleged human rights abuses committed during the war on leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers during the early 1990s. Following President Fujimori's resignation, presidential and legislative elections were called for April 2001 In December 2000, the Congress had voted to change the system for election of deputies to Parliament to one based on geographical constituencies. Previously members were elected by a system of proportional representation system in a nationwide constituency. This shift was intended to reflect more closely in Congress the country's large geographical differences. Exactly a year after former President Fujimori's tainted victory in a rigged election, a fair and free poll was held. International observers from the Organization of American States, that the preceding year had refused to monitor the elections because of extensive irregularities, hailed the 2001 election results. A team of nearly 130 international observers from the European Union, the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute also monitored the elections. The electoral campaign was marred by sabotage and violent clashes occasionally erupted among supporters of rival candidates. Racial insults and brutal personal attacks also marked the debate. The race grew hotter when exiled former President Alan García returned and decided to stand for the presidential race. Anti-Fujimori pro-democracy leader, Alejandro Toledo, had been the presidential favourite. But he was not able to maintain a lead and assure a first round victory in the presidential race on 8 April 2001. In the legislative elections, results showed that no party had obtained a congressional majority. Mr Toledo's centrist Peru Posible, a young party with no common ideology, won 26 per cent of the vote and 45 seats. Mr Garcia's leftist American Popular Revolutionary Party (APRA) polled nearly 20 per cent of the votes and 28 seats. The right-wing National Unity Party won nearly 14 per cent of the votes and got 17 seats in the Congress. On 3 June 2001, Mr Alejandro Toledo won the second round of the presidential election with 53 per cent of the votes.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (8 April 2001): Elections results
Number of registered electors	14 906 233
Voters	9 421 097 (63 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	2 562 285
Valid votes	6 858 812

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
"Perú Posible" Party	2 477 536	26.30
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA)	1 857 309	19.71
National Unity	1 303 976	13.84
Independent Moralizing Front (FIM)	1 034 684	10.98
Union for Peru (UPP)	390 229	4.14
"Somos Perú" Movement	544 187	5.78
Popular Action (AP)	393 426	4.18
Independents	n.a.	n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
"Perú Posible" Party	47
American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA)	28
National Unity	17
Independent Moralizing Front (FIM)	11
Union for Peru (UPP)	6
"Somos Perú" Movement	4
Popular Action (AP)	3
Independents	4

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	98
Women:	22
Percent of women:	18.33

Distribution of seats according to age:
21 to 30 years	1
31 to 40 years	21
41 to 50 years	43
51 to 60 years	45
61 to 70 years	9
Over 70 years	1
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Legal professions	27
Business/Trade/Industry	18
Engineers	17
Medical professions	10
University Professors	9
Economists	7
Teachers	7
Farmers	5
Journalists/writers/publishers	5
Architects	2
Manual workers	2
Sociologists	2
Housewives	1
Military	1
Politicians	1
Others	6