(MENAFN) In the early hours of Friday, Peru's Congress voted to impeach President Dina Boluarte, concluding a volatile three-year term characterized by widespread social unrest and a dramatic escalation in organized crime.

The removal comes after a decisive vote in which 122 legislators – far surpassing the 87 needed – determined Boluarte was unfit for office on the grounds of "permanent moral incapacity."

The president did not attend the congressional session. Immediately following her dismissal, the president of Congress, Jose Jeri, a 38-year-old attorney, was sworn in as her replacement. He is set to hold office until the next general elections, scheduled for April 2026.

Boluarte's defense team opposed the decision, asserting that Congress breached legal protocol by not allowing adequate time for her defense.

"Due process is a right, not an illusion ... We will not uphold it!" her lawyer, Juan Carlos Portugal, stated on the US-based social media platform X.

He criticized the impeachment as a "violation of any procedure."

In his first public address as Peru’s seventh president since 2016, Jeri highlighted the nation's primary threat — the surge in criminal activity.

"The main enemy is outside, in the streets, the criminal gangs, the criminal organizations. They are our enemies today, and as enemies, we must declare war on them," he proclaimed.

Boluarte’s removal marks the third instance since 2016 in which the Peruvian Congress has ousted a sitting president, reflecting the deep and ongoing political turbulence that continues to plague the South American country.

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