Peru’s parliament on Monday appointed Francisco Sagasti (76) as its new president, the third president in a week. On Sunday, Manuel Merino stepped down as president and his predecessor Martín Vizcarra was impeached last week.
Peru has been in a political crisis for some time. That situation escalated further after the ousting of Vizcarra last week. A majority in parliament voted to oust Vizcarra as president. He would have taken bribes as governor.
Former parliament speaker Merino then took over the presidential duties, but the protesters who took to the streets Saturday and earlier in the week did not accept this. They stated that Merino had come to power through “a parliamentary coup”.
They were the biggest protests in Peru in years. Although the protests were generally peaceful, disturbances broke out on Saturday evening. The police acted hard and used tear gas, among other things. At least a hundred were injured and two were killed in the confrontations.
In response to the protests all ministers of Merino’s cabinet left and Merino scheduled an emergency meeting for Sunday. Congress had already threatened to impeach Merino if he didn’t resign himself.
The political situation in Peru has been precarious for years. Vizcarra’s four predecessors have all been suspects in various corruption investigations. As it looks now, Sagasti will remain president until at least April next year, when elections will be held.
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