Peru’s new President José María Balcázar, entrance proper, leaves at Congress a day after voting to take away interim President Jose Jeri from workplace in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.
Guadalupe Pardo/AP
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Guadalupe Pardo/AP
LIMA, Peru — Peru’s Congress late Wednesday elected legislator José María Balcázar because the nation’s eighth president in a decade, changing one other interim chief who was ousted the day past over corruption allegations simply 4 months into his time period.
Balcázar, an 83-year-old former decide representing the leftist Perú Libre celebration, defeated three different candidates with a majority of the 130-member legislature.
The revolving-door presidency in Peru displays a political disaster fueled by an absence of legislative majorities for leaders. Lawmakers have regularly used a broad interpretation of a constitutional article relating to “permanent moral incapacity” to take away sitting presidents.
Balcázar, a retired decide with almost 30 years of expertise within the judiciary, was sworn in shortly after the vote by the president of the Congress, Fernando Rospigliosi.
He’ll govern for 5 months earlier than handing over energy to the winner of upcoming elections. Peruvians will select a brand new president and legislature on April 12. If no presidential candidate receives greater than 50% of the vote, the 2 front-runners will advance to a runoff in June.
Balcázar’s successor will confront a surge in murders and extortion that continues to devastate small enterprise homeowners and the working class.
Numerous political teams are demanding agency ensures for a clear election.
Balcázar instructed journalists that he’ll be certain that the upcoming elections are “unquestionable,” that macroeconomic insurance policies will stay unchanged, together with sound financial coverage “so that economic agents can work without concern,” and that he’ll search to refocus the battle towards organized crime.
Congress had voted Tuesday to take away conservative interim President José Jerí after 4 months in workplace. The present Congress, which started its time period in 2021, has now impeached three heads of state: Pedro Castillo, Dina Boluarte and Jerí.
In October 2025, Jerí was serving as president of Congress and was subsequent within the line of succession to interchange Boluarte, who had no vice presidents.
His personal elimination adopted revelations relating to his undisclosed conferences with Chinese language enterprise homeowners, together with a state contractor. Jerí asserted he was merely coordinating a Peruvian-Chinese language pageant.
The Public Prosecutor’s Workplace has launched two preliminary investigations into Jerí over allegations of unlawful sponsorship of personal pursuits and influence-peddling to the detriment of the state.
