The centre party politician is the third president of the country in just a week.

The Peruvian parliament has chosen the centre-right politician Francisco Sagasti as the new president of the country. With the election, the electorate ended a power vacuum that had emerged after the resignation of interim president Manuel Merino and parliamentary president Luis Valdez at the head of the South American state. The 76-year-old trained engineer should now lead the country out of the political crisis.

The former World Bank official was initially elected President of Parliament by the MPs. According to the Peruvian constitution, this person automatically becomes head of state if the presidency is vacant. Mr. Sagasti will now remain in office until the end of the legislative period on July 28, 2021.



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Mr. Sagasti is the third president of Peru in just a week filled with the demonstrations and riots which claimed the lives of two protesters and left injured dozens when police, reportedly without authorisation, launched the glass bullets.

On Monday, the members of parliament initially failed to determine a successor candidate for Merino. In the first vote on a successor to Merino, the left-wing MP and former human rights activist Rocío Silva Santisteban missed the necessary 60 votes in parliament on Monday night. The previous President of Parliament, Mr. Merino from the center-right Acción Popular party, took office on a temporary basis last Tuesday after his predecessor Martín Vizcarra was dismissed. On Sunday, Mr. Merino announced his resignation in a televised address.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor in Lima opened an investigation against Mr. Merino after two demonstrators were killed in violent protests against the interim president on Saturday.