{"id":64611,"date":"2026-02-18T23:04:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T04:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=64611"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:04:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T04:04:43","slug":"left-wing-lawmaker-jose-maria-balcazar-83-elected-president-of-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/left-wing-lawmaker-jose-maria-balcazar-83-elected-president-of-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar, 83, elected president of Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Peru\u2019s Congress has elected former judge and left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar as its new president, a role that makes him head of state until July 2026. He succeeds Jos\u00e9 Jer\u00ed, who was removed from office a day earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers voted Wednesday in Lima to choose a new congressional leader after approving a censure motion against Jer\u00ed on Tuesday. Under Peru\u2019s constitution, the president of Congress assumes the presidency when the executive post is vacant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balcazar, 83, was born in January 17, 1943, according to RPP Noticias<\/a>. He is a lawyer by profession and a former magistrate who served as a superior court judge and as a provisional Supreme Court justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, while serving as president of Congress\u2019s Education Commission, Balcazar drew criticism for remarks in which he appeared to justify child marriage, according to RPP Noticias. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since April of last year, he has faced a constitutional complaint over alleged corruption in a case that includes former Attorney General Patricia Benavides, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balcazar\u2019s election comes after Congress voted<\/a> 75 to 24, with three abstentions, to remove Jer\u00ed from office during an extraordinary plenary session in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jer\u00ed, 39, had assumed the presidency in October in his capacity as head of Congress after President Dina Boluarte was removed from office. Boluarte had led the executive branch following the 2022 removal and detention of President Pedro Castillo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peru\u2019s Congress has elected former judge and left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar as its new president, a role that makes him head of state until July 2026. He succeeds Jos\u00e9 Jer\u00ed, who was removed from office a day earlier. Lawmakers voted Wednesday in Lima to choose a new congressional leader after approving a censure motion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4261,2088],"class_list":["post-64611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-jose-maria-balcazar","tag-peru"],"yoast_head":"\nLeft-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar, 83, elected president of Peru - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/left-wing-lawmaker-jose-maria-balcazar-83-elected-president-of-peru\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar, 83, elected president of Peru - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peru\u2019s Congress has elected former judge and left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Balcazar as its new president, a role that makes him head of state until July 2026. 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