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Peru’s Congress voted to impeach interim President José Jerí, just four months into his term, for failing to disclose his meetings with Chinese businessmen.
The scandal erupted last month after videos emerged showing Jerí meeting several times outside of his official schedule with businessman Zhihua Yang, who was under government control.
Jerí previously apologized for the meetings but denied any wrongdoing and accused his rivals of waging a public smear campaign.
His removal makes him the third consecutive president to be ousted, having replaced former leader Dina Boluarte, who was removed in October last year.
Jerí was Peru’s seventh president since 2016, in a tumultuous political landscape that has seen a succession of leaders leave their posts in controversial circumstances.
Peru’s Congress will vote on Wednesday to elect its next interim president.
Lawmakers voted 75-24 to impeach Jerí after a series of controversies dubbed “Chifa-gate” – the local name for Chinese restaurants.
Security camera footage of Jerí’s meetings with Yang, who owns several businesses and won a state concession for an energy project, was first reported by local media.
In one of the videos, Jerí could be seen wearing a hooded top during a late-night visit to one of Yang’s restaurants.
Also present at one of the meetings was another Chinese citizen under house arrest while under investigation for alleged links to an illegal timber network.
Peruvian law requires presidents to document all their official activities, but the current former leader did not record these meetings.
Ruth Luque, one of the lawmakers who supported the censorship measures, said she wanted a leader who would prioritize the public interest and security.
“We are asking for an end to this agony so that we can truly create the transition that citizens hope for,” she said, according to Reuters. “Not a transition with hidden interests, influence peddling, secret meetings and hooded personalities. We don’t want that kind of transition.”
Pressure grew for Jerí to resign in the wake of the scandal, as he faced a corruption investigation launched by the attorney general and his popularity ratings plummeted.
His removal marks a new chapter of instability for Peru, which is due to hold general elections in April, in which power will transfer to a new president.
Less than a week after Jerí came to power, protests organized by young Peruvians demanding that the political class do more to fight crime and corruption left one person dead and more than 100 people injured.
