Peru appoints Jose Maria Balcazar as president after Jose Jeri’s removal 

Peru’s Congress has voted to appoint former judge and left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar as interim president, replacing the right-wing leader Jose Jeri a day after his removal.

Wednesday’s vote ushers in Peru’s ninth president in a decade. Balcazar’s term, however, will be short.

In just 53 days, on April 12, the country will head to the ballot box to vote for a new president. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off will be held in June.

Traditionally, Peru’s president-elects are inaugurated on the country’s Independence Day in late July. That ceremony will mark the end of Balcazar’s leadership.

Balcazar’s short tenure is the latest sign of turbulence in Peru’s government. Of Peru’s last eight presidents, four have been impeached and removed from office, and two have resigned before their term’s end.

The last president to serve a complete term was Ollanta Humala, whose presidency ended in July 2016.

Balcazar’s ascent to the presidency, however, was marked by its own turmoil. In an initial round of voting, centre-right lawyer Maria del Carmen Alva, 58, and Balcazar, 83, came out ahead, with 43 and 46 votes respectively.

But they both fell short of the 59 votes needed to be president, so another round of voting was announced. The left-wing party Together for Peru, however, announced it would boycott the second round.

Balcazar ultimately won after a tally of the 113 congressional votes cast. He received 60 votes.

Jeri, 39, was one of the youngest presidents to lead Peru. But he ultimately was the latest in a string of three consecutively impeached presidents.

His predecessor, Dina Boluarte, had been impeached in October for “moral incapacity”, amid dismal poll numbers, allegations of corruption and scrutiny over her use of force against protesters.

Boluarte, in turn, had replaced her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, who was impeached in December 2022 after he attempted what many consider a self-coup.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with rebellion and conspiracy against the state. Last November, a court sentenced him to 11 years and five months in prison.

Before becoming interim president, Jeri was the head of Congress, and he oversaw removal proceedings against Boluarte.

Since taking office, however, Jeri himself became embroiled in multiple scandals. A sexual misconduct accusation was levelled against him, and there were also questions raised about late-night meetings he took in the executive office with women who later received government contracts.

One of the biggest scandals, though, has concerned his off-the-books meetings with Chinese businessmen.

Normally, Peruvian law requires official meetings to be logged on the presidential agenda. But Peruvian media obtained video showing Jeri — his face obscured by a hoodie — entering a restaurant owned by a Chinese businessman, Zhihua Yang, late at night.

The meeting was not documented in government records. More footage emerged of Jeri at the businessman’s wholesale store, this time wearing dark sunglasses.

Yang previously received a government concession under Boluarte to construct a hydroelectric plant. But he has faced scrutiny about the project’s transparency and progress.

A second Chinese businessman, Xiaodong Jiwu, was also allegedly at the meeting. He has been under house arrest for illegal activities.

Jeri denied speaking to Jiwu, saying he simply served food. As for his meetings with Yang, Jeri said they were attempts to arrange a Chinese-Peruvian friendship event. He also excused his presence at Yang’s businesses as shopping trips.

Though Jeri has denied wrongdoing, prosecutors have launched an investigation into potential influence-peddling under his presidency.

The scandal has become known as “Chifagate”, named for the Chinese-Peruvian fusion cuisine called “chifa”.

But the uproar comes as Peru faces pressure from the United States to limit its relations with China. The US Department of State warned this month that Chinese investment in the port of Chancay could leave the country “powerless” over its own territory.