Three spicy weekend elections

You’ve just had a busy weekend perhaps binge-watching the NBA finals, arguing about the Monaco Grand Prix, or pretending you understood the French Open final.

So now it’s time for the juiciest messages and spiciest facts from Sunday’s three national elections, framed as 1990s hit movies for some reason. Let’s start with…

1. 🇵🇪 Peru's Cliffhanger

With counting still underway, Peru's right-populist Keiko Fujimori now holds a slight edge over the left-populist Roberto Sánchez.

🧃 The juicy message?

• i) These two finalists scraped into Sunday’s runoff with just 29% combined in the first round, meaning many Peruvians are now voting against rather than for anyone

• ii) But after nine presidents in ten years, exhausted voters might now be leaning back towards the devil they know: Keiko's dad famously stabilised 1990s Peru and crushed Maoist terrorists, before serving time for crimes against humanity

• iii) Investors in this copper and silver powerhouse may breathe easier with tough-on-crime Keiko in charge, though the margin suggests more gridlock ahead.

🌶️ Spicy fact: both candidates are essentially running as loyal defenders of their convicted (god)fathers — Keiko is channelling her late father's iron-fist, while Sánchez promises to free his leftist mentor, now doing time for trying to dissolve congress!

2. 🇦🇲 Armenia's Matrix

Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia's pro-West incumbent, has now claimed a historic third term via his party's trimmed but solid ~57% majority.

🧃 The juicy message?

• i) Folks are rewarding (or at least tolerating) his sharp Westward ‘red pill’ pivot after Armenia’s painful 2023 loss of Nagorno-Karabakh

• ii) They're also backing his "peace through realism" approach with Azerbaijan, providing him the numbers to finalise a border treaty, and

• iii) They're firmly rejecting Russia's heavy-handed interference, which included export bans, AI fakes, and even attempts to fly in diaspora voters!

🌶️ Spicy fact: the billionaire pro-Russian challenger had to campaign from house arrest on coup-incitement and corruption charges, and called the PM a ‘shroom addict!

3. 🇽🇰 Kosovo's Groundhog Day

Albin Kurti, Kosovo's pro-EU and pro-NATO incumbent, has limped to a 43% win in these snap elections, meaning he'll now need to cobble together a coalition to stay in power.

🧃 The juicy message?

• i) Record-low 36% turnout reflects epic voter fatigue after three elections in 18 months, rather than outright rejection of Kurti or the West

• ii) He's losing altitude fast, down eight points in just six months, and

• iii) It all likely means even more dysfunction ahead for Europe's youngest democracy, auguring even slower progress towards its EU/NATO dreams.

🌶️ Spicy fact: this election saw Kosovo's worst AI disinformation in history, including deepfake nudes targeting the ex-president!