Peru's Congress Elects Eighth President In A Decade

Peru’s Congress has elected legislator José María Balcázar as the country’s new interim president.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Congress on Wednesday elected legislator José María Balcázar as the country’s new interim president, replacing another interim leader who was removed a day earlier over allegations of corruption just four months into his term.

With a majority in the 130-member legislature, Balcázar became Peru’s eighth president in a decade after defeating three other candidates. The current Congress, which began its term in 2021, has now impeached three heads of state: Pedro Castillo, Dina Boluarte and José Jerí.

Balcázar, an 83-year-old former judge representing the leftist Perú Libre party, will govern for five months before handing over power to the winner of general elections on April 12, when Peruvians will choose a new president, Chamber of Deputies, and 60 senators. If no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the two front-runners will advance to a runoff election in June.

The past decade in Peru has been defined by chronic political instability that stems largely from the fact that ousted or resigned leaders lacked legislative majorities, leaving them vulnerable to lawmakers who have broadly interpreted a constitutional article to remove presidents for “moral incapacity.”

In October 2025, Jerí was serving as president of Congress and was next in the line of succession to replace Boluarte, who had no vice presidents. His sudden downfall following undisclosed meetings with Chinese state contractors has once again left the nation seeking a steady hand to reach the finish line of its democratic cycle.