(MENAFN- IANS) Lima, Oct 11 (IANS) Peruvian Congress leader Jose Jeri was sworn in as the country's president, shortly after the Congress removed former President Dina Boluarte from office.

Peru's lawmakers demanded that Boluarte appear at a Congress session to defend herself before voting to approve her impeachment on Thursday night. But Boluarte did not attend the meeting Congress passed the impeachment against her shortly afterward on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Jeri, 38, took the oath of office shortly after midnight, pledging to serve until July 26, 2026.

In a brief televised address, Jeri said he assumed the presidency "through constitutional succession," as there was no vice president to replace Boluarte. He vowed to take "immediate action" against insecurity, calling crime the main enemy Peruvians face every day.

"These criminal organizations are our enemies today," Jeri said, adding that the fight against crime would rely on the National Police and the Armed Forces. He also pledged to ensure "transparent, legal and neutral" elections in 2026, when Peruvians are scheduled to choose a new president, Congress and Senate.

Jeri has served as Congress president since July 26.

Shortly after Congress voted to remove her, Boluarte made an address at the presidential palace where she acknowledged that the same Congress that had sworn her in in late 2022 had now voted her removal, "with the implications this has for the stability of democracy in our country."

"At every moment, I called for unity," she said. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum had late on Thursday summoned Boluarte to defend herself before Congress that same night. She never arrived, and lawmakers had sufficient votes to proceed with a rapid impeachment process.

Boluarte, 63, was deeply disliked, with approval ratings between 2 per cent and 4 per cent, following accusations she has illicitly profited from her office and is responsible for the lethal crackdowns on protests in favour of her predecessor.

She denies any wrongdoing.

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