Peru’s Congress elects left-wing deputy as president

Balcázar, an 83-year-old lawyer who became a judge on the Supreme Court of Peru, caused surprise when he received the most votes in the extraordinary session of Congress to replace José Jerí, dismissed after leading the country in place of Dina Boluarte for just over four months.

With 64 votes against 46, the legislator beat the right-wing María del Carmen Alva, who at the beginning of the day appeared as the big favorite to temporarily assume the presidency with the mission of leading the government until July 28th, when the winner of the general presidential elections, scheduled for April 12th, will take command.

However, in a complex game of political interests and electoral calculations aimed at the election that will take place in a few weeks, Balcázar emerged triumphant with the support of a group of right-wing parties that initially planned to vote for Alva, but changed their minds at the last minute.

Thus, the Peruvian Legislature, which removed Jerí due to investigations opened against him for influence peddling, ended up placing as interim president a figure equally marked by scandals in his public career, although he rejects them and classifies them as “legends”.

As a Supreme Court judge, Balcázar was sanctioned for malfeasance in altering a sentence that was already final, while the bar association of which he was a member expelled him for allegedly having appropriated funds when he was its dean.

As a congressman, he stood out for having led the commission in which new judges of the Constitutional Court were appointed, but the fact for which he is most remembered is his stance against the prohibition of child marriage in Peru, on the grounds that “as long as there is no violence, early sexual relations help the psychological future of women”.

In the days before the vote, Balcázar even suggested in statements to journalists the possibility of granting a pardon to former president Castillo, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for the failed coup attempt he carried out in 2022 to avoid, precisely, being removed from office by Congress.

In his first speech as head of state, Balcázar promised his compatriots “a peaceful democratic electoral transition” and asked “that there be no doubt whatsoever about the general elections” that will be held in April.

He also said that he will maintain the current economic policy, because “the country cannot be taken” to economic trials”, and that he will seek to strengthen public security, which is the population’s main demand.

During this week, Balcázar is expected to appoint the Council of Ministers that will accompany him in this new period, after the schism caused by his appointment in right-wing parties, such as Fujimorismo and the conservative Renovação Popular, which accuse each other of having handed the government over to the left.