Peruvian lawmakers elected Jose Maria Balcazar as the country’s new interim president on Wednesday (Feb 18, 2026), after previous leader Jose Jeri was impeached on corruption charges.
A leftist lawmaker was elected head of Peru’s Congress after a vote broadcast live on TV, making the 83-year-old lawyer and former judge the country’s eighth head of state since 2016.
The vote ended an unprecedented more than 24-hour power outage in the country’s recent history.
After presidential elections on April 12, Mr Balcazar will lead the country until his successor takes over on July 28.
“In these few remaining months, we will guarantee the people of Peru a peaceful and transparent democratic and electoral transition, free from any doubt in the elections,” Mr. Balcazar said in a speech to parliament.
Mr. Jeri, 39, has become the latest leader to fall victim to a cycle of institutional turmoil as the powerful Congress struggles with a weakened executive amid chronic corruption and rising violence.
On Tuesday (Feb 17), lawmakers ousted him over alleged involvement in the illegal hiring of several women in his government and corruption charges involving a Chinese businessman.
In a TikTok post on Wednesday (Feb 18), Mr Jeri said it was “an honor to serve Peru and always will be”.
“It is not easy to solve in a few months what has been pending for decades, but every step has been done with conviction, responsibility and dedication,” he said.
Mr. Jeri maintains his innocence, but for ordinary Peruvians, the political upheaval is just a sideshow to make their own daily lives more dangerous.
“We live in uncertainty,” says 29-year-old Peruvian doctor Eric Solorzano. AFPthe new presidential election is only two months away.
In ten years, four presidents were impeached, two resigned to avoid the same fate, and only one managed to complete his intended term.
“Presidents don’t last forever because of corruption,” said Edgardo Torres, a 29-year-old industrial engineer.
“We need a real leader in such a volatile country,” he said AFP.
‘No Guarantee’
After the impeachment of Peru’s first female leader, Dina Boluarte, last October, Mr. Jerry himself became acting president.
He took to the role with gusto, tapping into an anti-crime drive that was popular in some quarters, but not enough to put his head on the chopping block.
In his TikTok post on Wednesday (Feb 18), he touched on the continuing need to “strengthen security as the foundation of a nation with order and a future”.
Last week, prosecutors opened an investigation into whether Jeri “exerted undue influence” in government appointments.
He drew attention to claims that several women — nine, according to prosecutors — were improperly given jobs in the president’s office and the environment ministry on his watch.
Mr. Govt is also facing charges of “illegal sponsorship of interests” after a secret meeting with a Chinese businessman with business ties to the government. Jeri is under investigation.
On Tuesday, lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to impeach him.
Mr. Balcazar along with three Congress members, Mr. Throwing their hats into the ring to replace Jeri: former speaker Maria del Carmen Alva, veteran socialist Edgard Raymundo and politician Hector Acuna, whose party has been tainted by corruption scandals.
As politicians vie for power, Peru is grappling with a wave of robberies that have claimed dozens of lives, post-pandemic poverty and unemployment and the rise of gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
However, “there is no guarantee that whoever replaces Jerry will make it to July 2026,” said political analyst Augusto Alvarez. AFP.
