Peru’s Congress has voted to install former judge and left-wing legislator Jose Maria Balcazar as interim president, replacing right-wing leader Jose Jeri a day after he was removed from office.
The decision on Wednesday makes Balcazar the country’s ninth president in the past decade, though his time in office will be brief.
In 53 days, on April 12, Peruvians will head to the polls to elect a new president. Should no candidate secure more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off election will take place in June.
Typically, newly elected presidents are sworn in on Independence Day in late July, a ceremony that will signal the conclusion of Balcazar’s short-lived administration.
His appointment underscores the ongoing instability in Peru’s political landscape. Of the last eight presidents, four were impeached and removed, while two stepped down before completing their terms.
The last leader to finish a full term was Ollanta Humala, whose presidency ended in July 2016.
Balcazar’s rise to the presidency was itself contentious. In the first round of voting, centre-right lawyer Maria del Carmen Alva, 58, and Balcazar, 83, led the field with 43 and 46 votes respectively.
Neither reached the 59 votes required, prompting a second round. The left-wing Together for Peru party opted to boycott that round.
In the end, Balcazar secured victory with 60 out of 113 votes cast in Congress.
Who is the new president, Balcazar?
Balcazar’s likely win drew criticism from some right-wing politicians, who voiced their concerns online.
“We worked tirelessly for five years to prevent the congressional leadership from falling into the hands of the left,” wrote Patricia Juarez of the far-right Fuerza Popular party.
“Now we are deeply concerned about the results because we could be handing over even the presidency of the republic to the left, embodied by Balcazar. May God help Peru.”
A member of the left-wing Peru Libre (Free Peru) party, Balcazar was born in Cajamarca, near the Ecuadorian border. He studied law and later worked as both a professor and a judge.
His judicial career was not without dispute. In 2004, while serving provisionally on Peru’s Supreme Court, he attempted to reverse a cassation ruling considered final under the law.
He subsequently faced disciplinary proceedings, and the National Board of Justice (CNM) decided not to renew his tenure on the court.
Since 2021, Balcazar has served in Congress, at one point breaking away from Free Peru to join the Peru Bicentenario party.
Like several recent Peruvian presidents, Balcazar has faced allegations and controversies. His remarks defending child marriage during a 2023 congressional debate sparked criticism. He has also been investigated over alleged misappropriation of funds from the Lambayeque Bar Association and linked to a bribery scandal involving former Attorney General Patricia Benavides.
Despite these controversies, Balcazar managed to rally sufficient support within Peru’s divided Congress to clinch the presidency.
What happened to Jose Jeri?
At 39, Jeri was among the youngest to serve as Peru’s president, but he became the third consecutive leader to be impeached.
He had taken over from Dina Boluarte, who was removed in October on grounds of “moral incapacity” amid low approval ratings, corruption allegations and scrutiny over her handling of protests.
Boluarte herself had replaced Pedro Castillo of the Free Peru party, who was impeached in December 2022 after attempting what many described as a self-coup.
Castillo was later arrested and charged with rebellion and conspiracy against the state. In November, he was sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison.
Before assuming the presidency, Jeri headed Congress and presided over Boluarte’s impeachment.
However, his own tenure was marred by controversy. He faced accusations of sexual misconduct and scrutiny over late-night meetings in the executive office with women who later obtained government contracts.
A major controversy involved undisclosed meetings with Chinese businessmen.
Peruvian law requires official engagements to be recorded on the presidential agenda. Yet local media released footage allegedly showing Jeri — partially concealed by a hoodie — entering a restaurant owned by Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang late at night.
The visit was absent from official logs. Additional footage showed Jeri at Yang’s wholesale store wearing dark sunglasses.
Yang had previously secured a government concession under Boluarte to build a hydroelectric plant, though the project has drawn questions about transparency and progress.
Another businessman, Xiaodong Jiwu, reportedly attended the meeting and has been under house arrest for illegal activities.
Jeri denied speaking with Jiwu, claiming he merely served food. Regarding Yang, he said the meetings were to organise a Chinese-Peruvian friendship event and described his visits to Yang’s establishments as routine shopping.
Despite his denials, prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible influence-peddling during his presidency.
The controversy has been dubbed “Chifagate”, after the Chinese-Peruvian fusion cuisine known as “chifa”.
The scandal unfolds as Peru faces pressure from the United States to curb its ties with China. The US Department of State warned this month that Chinese investment in the port of Chancay could leave Peru “powerless” over its own territory.