Peru’s Congress will choose an interim president after Jose Jeri’s impeachment, continuing a decade of political instability marked by corruption scandals.

LIMA: Peru’s Congress is set to elect an interim president to replace Jose Jeri, who was impeached in a graft scandal just four months after taking office.

Jeri was accused of the irregular hiring of several women in his government and of suspected graft involving a Chinese businessman.

The new interim president will be Peru’s eighth head of state in 10 years. Lawmakers will choose a new parliament speaker who will lead the country until July 28, when the next president elected in national polls takes office.

The vote will end a power vacuum of more than 24 hours, unprecedented in the country’s recent history.

Four members of Congress are vying for the top job: former Congress president Maria del Carmen Alva, left-wing congressman Jose Balcazar, veteran socialist Edgar Raymundo, and Hector Acuna, whose party is tainted by corruption scandals.

Alva is one of the favourites to win the vote, while Jeri is constitutionally barred from running.

Congress voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to impeach Jeri, who was serving as interim president after massive protests last year ousted his predecessor Dina Boluarte.

Peru’s chronic political instability has seen four of its past seven presidents impeached, and two resigning before suffering the same fate.

Only one, centrist academic Francisco Sagasti, completed his intended term.

Paula Jimenez, a 22-year-old saleswoman in Lima, said the political crisis was “secondary” compared to the everyday problems of ordinary people.

She accused parliament of focusing on internal squabbles rather than the concerns of Peruvians.

Edgardo Torres, a 29-year-old industrial engineer from Lima, said Peru needed “a true leader” to bring some much-needed political stability.

Prosecutors last week opened an investigation into whether Jeri “exercised undue influence” in government appointments, while Jeri has protested his innocence.

He faced claims that five women were improperly given jobs in the president’s office and the environment ministry after meeting with him.

Prosecutors said there were in fact nine women involved.

Jeri is also under investigation for alleged “illegal sponsorship of interests” following a secret meeting with a Chinese businessman with commercial ties to the government.

 The Sun Malaysia