Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as president of Peru on July 28, 2026, in a Solemn Session of Congress that began at 10:00 a.m. local time, assuming the presidential term running through 2031. The ceremony transferred executive command to the 51-year-old conservative leader after a run-off election in June that she won by 49,641 votes, defeating left-wing rival Roberto Sanchez of Juntos por el Perú. Al Jazeera reported that Fujimori's Fuerza Popular ticket received 9,223,396 votes against 9,173,755 for her opponent, a margin slim enough to constrain her governing mandate from day one.

Fujimori's path to the presidency was long. She lost three previous presidential bids before prevailing in 2026. Her party, Fuerza Popular, now holds the largest single bloc in Peru's Congress, and together with its principal right-wing ally controls half the seats in the newly installed Peruvian Senate. That coalition strength, however, falls short of the legislative majority required to unilaterally advance Fujimori's policy agenda, meaning coalition-building with centrist or independent blocs will be a structural necessity of her term.

On July 27, the eve of her inauguration, Fujimori named her Economy Minister, Foreign Minister, and Prime Minister, according to Reuters. The early appointments signaled an intent to have a functioning cabinet in place immediately upon taking the oath, which she administered before Congress, swearing to "defend democracy and the independence of powers" in her constitutional oath of office, as reported by TV Perú.

Fujimori's campaign centered on law and order, anchored by a pledge to apply an "iron fist" (mano dura) approach to crime. Her specific proposals included constructing a mega-prison modeled on El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), deploying anonymous judges for criminal trials, deporting undocumented migrants, and requiring prisoners to work for their food. Each proposal drew scrutiny from civil liberties organizations. Critics fear the promised crime crackdown could erode civil liberties in Peru, an anxiety compounded by the country's recent history of political instability and social unrest.

Fujimori's political identity is inseparable from her family's legacy. She entered public life at age 19, when her father, Alberto Fujimori, asked her to serve as first lady following a public split with her mother. Alberto Fujimori ruled Peru during the 1990s and was subsequently convicted of corruption and crimes against humanity, serving 16 years in prison. That record hangs over his daughter's presidency in competing ways: it energizes a loyal base that credits the elder Fujimori with defeating the Shining Path insurgency and stabilizing a collapsing economy, while it galvanizes opponents who view the family name as synonymous with authoritarian overreach.

On the eve of the inauguration, relatives of victims of state violence gathered in Lima to reject the incoming government, a demonstration organized as the formal transfer of power approached. Opposition groups pressed the new administration on two fronts: they urged Fujimori to reverse recent laws they argue weakened efforts to tackle organized crime, and they called for reopening investigations into the deaths of dozens of protesters during demonstrations in 2022. A retiree named Cesar Fuentes captured the polarized public mood in remarks to AFP, telling the news agency that Fujimori "is going to be a replica of her father."

The broader context here is one of institutional fragility meeting a mandate that is ideologically ambitious but arithmetically narrow. Fujimori won fewer votes than her father's controversial legacy might suggest is possible, and her legislative coalition, while the largest in Congress, lacks the seats to govern alone. Her security proposals, particularly the Cecot-model prison and anonymous judges, draw direct inspiration from El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, whose own security policies have produced both dramatic reductions in homicides and sustained criticism from international human rights bodies. Whether Peru's constitutional framework and political pluralism can absorb that model without the institutional erosion critics fear is the central question of Fujimori's early presidency.

The juxtaposition of her oath to "defend democracy and the independence of powers" with an agenda critics describe as authoritarian in inspiration is not lost on observers. The Peruvian Congress, where right-wing parties hold significant but insufficient leverage, will function as both a forum for Fujimori's legislative program and a potential check on its most expansive elements. The 2022 protest investigations, which opposition groups want reopened, touch on a period of acute political crisis in Peru, and any executive action on that front will be scrutinized for signs of either accountability or cover-up.

Fujimori was scheduled to deliver her formal message to Congress during the Solemn Session, with the official program placing her arrival at the legislature at approximately 12:15 p.m. on July 28, according to TV Perú. The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), Peru's national electoral authority, formally proclaimed Fujimori Higuchi as president-elect ahead of the ceremony, per an official JNE announcement.

The presidency she assumes carries a five-year term and a country marked by competing pressures: elevated public demand for security, a legislature that can grant or withhold cooperation in unpredictable blocs, and an opposition already organized around accountability demands rooted in the recent past. How Fujimori navigates the gap between her coalition's numbers and her agenda's ambition will shape not only her own term but Peru's broader trajectory of democratic consolidation or erosion.