Peru’s impeached interim President Jose Jeri (C) gestures with his cabinet in the background as they walk out of the Government Palace in Lima on February 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Peru’s Congress on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) impeached interim President Jose Jeri, the Latin American country’s seventh head of state in 10 years and only the latest toppled over graft claims.
Mr. Jeri, 39, was accused in the irregular hiring of several women in his government, and of suspected graft involving a Chinese businessman.
In office since last October, Mr. Jeri took over from unpopular leader Dina Boluarte, who was also impeached amid protests against corruption and a wave of violence linked to organised crime.
Prosecutors last week opened an investigation into “whether the head of state exercised undue influence” in government appointments.
Mr. Jeri has protested his innocence.
Mr. Jeri — at the time the head of Peru’s unicameral parliament — was appointed last year to serve out the remainder of Ms. Boluarte’s term, which runs until July, when a new President will take over following elections on April 12.
He is constitutionally barred from seeking election.
Mr. Jeri has found himself in the spotlight over claims revealed by investigative TV program Cuarto Poder that five women were improperly given jobs in the President’s Office and the Environment Ministry after meeting with Mr. Jeri.
Prosecutors said there were in fact nine women.
Mr. Jeri is also under investigation for alleged “illegal sponsorship of interests” following a secret meeting with a Chinese businessman with commercial ties with the government.
Institutional crisis
Some observers have pointed to possible politicking in the censure of Mr. Jeri just weeks before elections for which over 30 candidates — a record — have tossed their hat into the ring.
The candidate from the right-wing Popular Renewal party, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who leads in opinion polls, has been among the most vocal in calling for Mr. Jeri’s ouster.
Congress is now set to elect its own new leader on Wednesday to replace a caretaker in the post. The new Parliament President will automatically take over as Peru’s interim President until July.
Four members of Congress have registered for the vote, including Maria del Carmen Alva, former president of Congress in 2021 and a member of the Popular Action party.
Her opponents include left-wing congressman Jose Balcazar, veteran socialist Edgar Raymundo, and Hector Acuna, a representative of a party tainted by corruption.
“It will be difficult to find a replacement with political legitimacy in the current Congress, with evidence of mediocrity and strong suspicion of widespread corruption,” political analyst Augusto Alvarez told AFP.
Peru has now burned through seven Presidents since 2016, several of them impeached, investigated or convicted of wrongdoing.
The South American country is also gripped by a wave of extortion that has claimed dozens of lives, particularly of bus drivers — some shot at the wheel if their companies refuse to pay protection money.
In two years, the number of extortion cases reported in Peru jumped more than tenfold — from 2,396 to over 25,000 in 2025.
Published – February 18, 2026 09:13 am IST
