Jose Balcazar elected President

Peru’s Congress elected legislator Jose Maria Balcazar as the country’s eighth president in a decade.Balcazar, an 83-year-old former judge representing the leftist Peru Libre party, defeated three other candidates with a majority of the 130-member legislature. The revolving-door presidency in Peru reflects a political crisis fuelled by a lack of legislative majorities for leaders.

Lawmakers have frequently used a broad interpretation of a constitutional article regarding “permanent moral incapacity” to remove sitting presidents. Congress voted to remove conservative interim president Jose Jeri after four months in office. The current Congress, which began its term in 2021, has now impeached three heads of State.