Former soccer goalkeeper leads race for Peru president three months before vote

The poll showed that 25% of Peruvians say they will not support any candidate or do not know whom to vote for. George Forsyth, 38, who played for several local clubs and the Peruvian national team, has been leading the polls for months, although support for his candidacy dropped by one percentage point, according to the Ipsos Peru firm's survey published by the newspaper El Comercio.

Three months before Peru's presidential elections, a former soccer goalkeeper leads with 17% support, according to a poll released on Sunday, while a higher percentage do not know who they will vote for in a country torn by perpetual crisis. The politically unstable South American nation has had four presidents in less than three years. The poll showed that 25% of Peruvians say they will not support any candidate or do not know whom to vote for.

George Forsyth, 38, who played for several local clubs and the Peruvian national team, has been leading the polls for months, although support for his candidacy dropped by one percentage point, according to the Ipsos Peru firm's survey published by the newspaper El Comercio. The survey was conducted from Jan. 13-15. Also running are candidates with single-digit support, including Keiko Fujimori with 8%. This is the third time imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori's daughter has run for the presidency.

Next in the survey were centrist economist Julio Guzman with 7%, leftist psychologist and anthropologist Veronika Mendoza with 7%, and retired military officer Daniel Urresti with 6%. The presidential election, which will elect a new Congress as well, is scheduled for April 11.

Peru experienced one of its worst-ever political crises in November with the removal and resignation of two presidents - Martin Vizcarra and Manuel Merino - and the inauguration of interim leader Francisco Sagasti, who is due to leave office in July. In March 2018, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned amid allegations of corruption. The Ipsos Peru survey was conducted with 1,210 respondents and has a margin of error of 2.81 percentage points, meaning results could vary by that much each way.