Peru Congress ousts president, successor vows ‘war on crime’

Peru's lawmakers swore in Congress chief Jose Jeri as the country's new president less than an hour after unanimously voting to remove President Dina Boluarte, as anger mounted over rising crime and accusations of corruption, reports BBC.

One of the world's least popular leaders was ousted shortly after midnight on Friday, just hours after various political blocs first presented motions for Boluarte's removal on grounds of moral incapacity.

The vote took place after several members of popular cumbia music group Agua Marina were injured in a shooting during a concert held on Wednesday in a venue belonging to the Peruvian military. Motions for Boluarte's removal cited the economic impacts of rising crime, as well as allegations of corruption and a scandal known locally as Rolexgate over the provenance of her collection of luxury watches.

Jeri, who becomes Peru's seventh president since 2016, signaled he would take a tough approach on insecurity.

"The main enemy is out there on the streets: criminal gangs," he told Congress, wearing a sash of the national flag. "We must declare war on crime." The 38-year-old member of the conservative Somos Peru party, who became Congress president in July, joins the ranks of some of the world's youngest heads of state.