Jose Maria Balcazar Appointed Interim President of Peru

Key facts

• Peru’s Congress elected Jose Maria Balcazar as the interim president of the country, succeeding Jose Jeri following his removal from office.
• Balcazar is an 83-year-old former judge and professor who represents the left-wing Peru Libre (Free Peru) party.
• He secured the presidency by obtaining 60 votes out of 113 cast in the second round of voting in the Congress.
• His interim tenure is scheduled to last for 53 days until the national elections are held on 12 April 2026.
• Balcazar has been a member of the Congress since 2021 and previously served as a provisional member of the Supreme Court of Peru.
• He becomes the ninth president of Peru in the last decade, a period marked by the impeachment of four presidents and the resignation of two others.
• The National Board of Justice (CNM) had previously conducted disciplinary hearings regarding Balcazar’s judicial term on the high court’s bench.
• The outgoing president, Jose Jeri, was impeached following allegations of influence-peddling and misconduct in a scandal known as Chifagate.