Peru's Ruling Party Turns Loser Elections
Peru's ruling Aprista Party turned out to be a loser in the weekend regional elections -- months after its leader won the second round of the June 4 presidential vote, the official results showed on Monday.

The vote left President Alan Garcia's party with only two of the 12 regional governments it had won in the 2002 ballot, according to the results based on 85 percent of the votes counted.

The party managed to take control of the state of Lima, but only with a slim margin of 564 votes.

The big winners were independent candidates, who secured 21 out of the country's 25 regions.

In municipal elections, voters cast ballots to choose nearly 12,500 mayors, governors and councilors, with national political parties claiming pockets of success.

Among key battlegrounds, Lima remained in the hands of incumbent Mayor Luis Castaneda of the conservative National Unity coalition. With 87 percent of the ballots counted, Castaneda had 47.9 percent, officials said, adding that there were 11 other candidates who accounted for the remaining votes.

Despite the setback for the Aprista Party, Garcia's Cabinet chief Jorge del Castillo insisted that the president still "has more than 60 percent approval."

The important thing "is that people see clear leadership in the president," the official told reporters.

The ruling party's poor showing in regional elections came against the backdrop where Peru's economic growth has been strong, but some regions have poverty rates nearing 90 percent.