Weekly Report - 19 February 2026 (WR-26-07)

Parties from across the political spectrum in Peru voted to remove President José Jerí from power on 17 February. Behind their ostensibly principled position was raw political calculation ahead of presidential and congressional elections on 12 April: Jerí’s early popularity for his uncompromising stance on insecurity was in freefall in the wake of the release of compromising videos in the so-called Chifagate scandal. But the day after Jerí’s removal, electoral manoeuvring saw right-wing parties lose their grip on congress and José María Balcázar, a member of Perú Libre (PL), the left-wing party that brought Pedro Castillo to power in 2021, elected president.