José María Balcázar elected Peru’s interim president

Octogenarian leftist, who has defended child marriage, replaces José Jerí, who was voted out after a scandal

Peru’s congress elected José María Balcázar, an octogenarian leftist lawmaker who has defended child marriage, as the country’s interim president on Wednesday ahead of general elections in April. Balcázar is Peru’s ninth president since 2016.

The surprise election, in which Balcázar beat the favourite, conservative lawmaker María del Carmen Alva, came after lawmakers voted to remove his predecessor José Jerí, on Tuesday, after just four months in office, due to a scandal over secretive meetings with Chinese businessmen.