Feb 18 (Reuters) - Peruvian lawmakers on Wednesday elected Jose Balcazar as the country's new interim president ahead of general elections in April, making him the country's eighth president in as many years.
Balcazar will also assume the role of head of Congress.
Peru's Congress on Tuesday voted to oust President Jose Jeri after just four months in office due to a scandal over undisclosed meetings with a Chinese businessman.
Balcazar was immediately sworn in as Peru's head of congress on Wednesday, following political upheaval that lead to the removal of his predecessor.
In a session lasting several hours after none of the four candidates secured a simple majority, Peruvian lawmakers voted to elect Balcazar over Maria del Carmen Alva.
Balcazar's interim mandate comes less than two months before Peruvians head to the polls on April 12 to elect a new president, with a run-off vote expected in June. Balcazar will remain in the post until the end of thecurrent presidential term on July 28, when the elected president is due to take office.
The Andean nation's Congressa day earliervotedto oustPresident Jose Jeri after just four months in office, a dramatic turn that deepened the leadership crisis gripping the country and raised urgent questions about what comes next.
Since 2018, Peru has cycled through a rapid succession of presidents, exposing a deep rupture between the executive branch and Congress and a fragmented party system unable to form lasting governing coalitions.
Jeri became the third Peruvian president in a row to be ousted, his brief tenure cut short by a string of political scandals,including one over undisclosed meetings he held with a Chinese businessman.
Peru's is the world's third-biggest copper producerand its heavily mining-reliant economy has thus far shown resilience to political shocks, posting solid growth and relatively low inflation last year compared with many regional peers.
Still, Balcazar nowfaces a narrow and high-stakes mandate of steadying markets, preserving public order and overseeing credible elections.
"It is difficult to believe that Jeri’s substitute would fail to last until July; yet another change of president over the next five months would mark a new nadir in Peruvian politics," said Nicolas Watson, managing director of consultancy Teneo.
(Reporting by Lucinda Elliott, Cassandra Garrison and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Alistair Bell)
