Peru picks Balcazar as interim president

PERUVIAN lawmakers picked Jose Maria Balcazar as the country’s new interim president this week, making him the country’s eighth leader in a decade after Jose Jeri was impeached on graft allegations.

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PERU'S new interim President Jose Maria Balcazar gestures after his election at the National Congress in Lima.

(AFP)

The left-wing lawmaker was elected head of Peru’s Congress after a vote broadcast live on TV, meaning the 83-year-old lawyer and former judge will become Peru's eighth head of state since 2016.

The vote brought to an end a power vacuum of more than 24 hours, unprecedented in the country’s recent history.

Balcazar will lead the country until his successor takes office on July 28, after the presidential election on April 12.

Jeri, 39, became the latest leader to fall victim to a cycle of institutional turmoil as a powerful Congress battles a weakened executive against a backdrop of chronic corruption and rising violence.

This week, he was ousted by lawmakers for suspected involvement in the irregular hiring of several women in his government and alleged graft involving a Chinese businessman.