On Wednesday, lawmakers in Peru elected Jose Balcazar as the country’s new interim president prior to the general election set to happen in April, which has established him as the country’s 8th president in as many years.
Balcazar will also be assuming the role of head of Congress.
Ex-President Jeri Removed
Peru’s Congress voted to remove President Jose Jeri from office on Tuesday, a mere four months into his tenure in office, due to a scandal over undisclosed meetings with a Chinese Businessman.
Balcazar was immediately sworn in as Peru’s head of congress following the misconduct that led to his predecessor’s removal and the political upheaval it caused.
In a session that lasted several hours after all four candidates failed to secure a simple majority, Peruvian lawmakers chose to elect Balcazar over Maria del Carmen Alva.
Balcazar’s interim comes less than two months from the elections scheduled for April 12 to elect a new president, with a run-off vote expected in June. Balcazar is expected to remain president until the end of the current term, set to end on July 28, when the elected president will take office.
Peru’s Long List Of Impeachments
The Congress’s decision to oust President Jose Jeri after only four months in office has deepened the leadership crisis gripping the country and raised concerns about what comes next. Since 2018, Peru has had a rapid succession of presidents, which exposed a deep rupture between the executive branch and the Congress, as well as a fragmented party system that has been unable to form lasting governing coalitions.
Jeri has become the third President in a row to be impeached. However, Peru has thus far displayed a resilience towards political shocks and reported solid growth and relatively low inflation in the last year, as compared to its regional neighbours.
“It is difficult to believe that Jeri’s substitute would fail to last until July; yet another change of president over the next five months would mark a new nadir in Peruvian politics,” said Nicolas Watson, managing director of consultancy Teneo.
(with inputs from Reuters)
