After six weeks of election conflict with rival Keiko Fujimori, rural teacher-turned-politician Pedro Castillo was declared the new president of Peru.

Based on the official count released Monday, July 19, Pedro Castillo defeated the right-wing presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori by only 44,000 votes. Most of the ballots that the former teacher got were from his supporters in the rural areas of Peru.

The official result of the June 6 presidential elections in Peru has been delayed because of Fujimori's appeal of annulling some ballots over fraud accusations.

Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori. She is a former congresswoman who ran for the third time for president with the business elites backing her.

Earlier in the day, Keiko Fujimori said she would recognize the official result because "it is what the law and the constitution that I have sworn to defend, mandates. The truth is going to come out anyway."

According to Al Jazeera, Peru's president-elect Pedro Castillo thanked hundreds of his supporters who assembled at the Peru Libre or Free Peru party in Lima. Castillo also lauded the electoral officials and political parties who took part in the democratic celebration.

During a brief virtual ceremony, the head of the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) elections jury, Jorge Luis Salas, announced the victory of the former educator. Salas declared Pedro Castillo as the election winner from a balcony.

Hundreds of Castillo's supporters who had spent weeks outside the JNE headquarters broke out in celebration after hearing the news. Among the crowd of Castillo's supporters was 27-year-old Rosa Huaman, who said that finally, they got a president.

Despite not having any experience in the political scene, Peru's new president, Castillo, had developed a reputation as a good negotiator with his experience as a trade union leader. Democrats in the region also welcomed Pedro Castillo, Al Jazeera reported.

During the campaign, the former teacher and union leader promised that he would make everything that he could to improve the lives of the citizens of Peru. Pedro Castillo also said he would fight COVID-19 that crippled their country since it spread.

Peru has been crushed by COVID-19, with about a third of Peruvians now living in poverty. The disease also exposed the inadequacies of the country's public health system. Based on the latest data, Peru's per capita death rate from COVID-19 ranked number 1 globally.

Pedro Castillo: From Rural Teaching to Ruling Peru

According to historians, Pedro Castillo is the first individual from outside the elite to become Peru's president. Poor and indigenous people in Peru usually receive the worst of deficient public services despite the economic gains in the past 20 years.

Cecilia Méndez, a Peruvian historian and professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara, told a radio station that no cases of a person unrelated to professional, economic elites, or even military had reached the presidency.

Considered as the son of peasant farmers, Pedro Castillo worked as a primary school teacher in his native San Luis de Puna, a remote village in Cajamarca, a northern region of Peru.

His place was best known for leading a national strike four years ago, which allegedly prompted him to run for the presidency. Pedro Castillo would be sworn into office on July 28.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Castillo Named President-Elect in Peru, Fujimori Concedes - From Al Jazeera English