José Jerí
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José Jerí | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jeri in 2024 | |
| President of Peru | |
| Assumed office 10 October 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Eduardo Arana Ysa |
| Vice President | First Vice President Vacant Second Vice President Vacant |
| Preceded by | Dina Boluarte |
| President of Congress | |
| Assumed office 26 July 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Eduardo Salhuana |
| Member of Congress | |
| Assumed office 26 July 2021 | |
| Constituency | Lima |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Enrique Jerí Oré 13 November 1986 Lima, Peru |
| Political party | We Are Peru |
| Alma mater | Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University Federico Villarreal National University |
José Enrique Jerí Oré (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse xeˈɾi]; born 13 November 1986) is a Peruvian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the president of Peru since 10 October 2025, following the impeachment and removal of his predecessor Dina Boluarte.[1] Prior to assuming the presidency, Jerí was president of the Congress of the Republic from July to October 2025, having been a member of Congress of the Republic representing Lima for the We Are Peru party since 2021.[2][3] He is the eighth Peruvian president in less than a decade, and, at 38 years old, the third youngest and the first millennial to serve as President of Peru.[1]
First elected to the Congress of the Republic as an alternate for Martín Vizcarra, who had been disqualified from his seat for allegedly jumping the line to get a COVID-19 vaccine,[4] Jerí held office as a member of the minor right-wing We Are Peru party. On 26 July 2025, he was elected as President of the Congress of the Republic for the 2025–2026 annual session period with the votes of Free Peru, Popular Force, Alliance for Progress, Acción Popular, Avanza País and We Are Peru.[1][5]
After the unanimous impeachment and removal of Dina Boluarte on 10 October 2025, Jerí assumed the presidency in his capacity as head of the legislative branch.[6] In his inaugural speech, Jerí pledged to "install and lead a government of transition, empathy, and national reconciliation", and said that the nation "must declare war on crime".[6][7]
Early life and education
[edit]José Jerí was born on 13 November 1986, in the Jesús María District, located in the city of Lima. He graduated from the Federico Villarreal National University (UNFV), where he earned his bachelor's degree in Law in 2014. The following year, he earned his law degree from the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University.[7]
He is a member of the Law Review, formed by students from the UNFV Law School in Amauta, and also the founder of the Legal Society.
He held various positions in the Ancash Regional Government from 2019 to 2020, also serving as Secretary General. He was an advisor to the We Are Peru caucus in the Congress of the Republic in 2020.[8]
Political career
[edit]Since 2013, he has been affiliated with the political party We Are Peru. As a member, he served as youth secretary and alternate legal representative. He is currently the party's first vice president since September 2021.[9]
His first political participation took place in the 2013 Lima municipal elections as a candidate for the Lima Municipality council with the backing of Fernando Andrade, though Jerí was not elected. He ran again unsuccessfully in the 2014 elections.[10] From November 2015 to April 2016, he was a delegate and member of the Alliance for the Progress of Peru coalition led by César Acuña because the party he belonged to, We Are Peru, was a member of said electoral alliance.
Congressman of the Republic
[edit]In the 2021 parliamentary elections, José Jerí ran for the Congress of the Republic on behalf of We Are Peru in the Lima Metropolitan electoral list of, running as number 3 on the candidate list. Despite obtaining only 11,654 preferential votes, Jerí managed to be elected as a congressman of the republic for the 2021–2026 parliamentary term due to the disqualification of winning candidate Martín Vizcarra, a former president who obtained 208,387 preferential votes in the election, from holding any public office.[11]
In July 2021, he ran for president of Congress for the 2021–2022 term, but was unsuccessful.[12]
During the third presidential impeachment process against Pedro Castillo, Jerí voted in favour of declaring moral incapacity of Pedro Castillo. The vacancy was approved by 101 parliamentarians on 7 December 2022.
He served as president of the Budget Committee during the 2023–2024 legislative year. He served as spokesperson for the We Are Peru party. He was one of the congressmen who supported the dismissal of the fiscal investigations into Dina Boluarte.[13]
On 26 July 2025, he was elected as President of the Congress of the Republic for the 2025–2026 annual session period with the votes of Free Peru, Popular Force, Alliance for Progress, Acción Popular, Avanza País and We Are Peru.[1][5]
Presidency
[edit]After the unanimous impeachment and removal of Dina Boluarte on 10 October 2025, owing to persistent political scandals throughout her presidency and a mismanaged crime wave earlier in the month, José Jerí immediately ascended as President of Peru. With Boluarte having no vice presidents, Jerí, as president of the legislature, stood next in the line of succession established in the Peruvian Constitution.[6][14][15] He became the sixth individual to serve as President since the resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in 2018, a span of just over seven years.[16] He will serve out the final year of the term to which Pedro Castillo was initially elected in 2021; Castillo was removed in 2022 in favor of Boluarte.
In his inaugural speech, Jerí pledged to "install and lead a government of transition, empathy, and national reconciliation", and said that the nation "must declare war on crime".[6][7]
Despite the removal of President Dina Boluarte, the Congress of the Republic rejected a motion of censure against prime minister Eduardo Arana Ysa, meaning that the Boluarte cabinet carried over into the presidency of José Jerí.[1]
Controversies
[edit]COVID-19 celebration scandal
[edit]In February 2022, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, Jerí was photographed entering a bar in the Miraflores district with a young woman who worked as an assistant in his congressional office, to celebrate the birthday of Claudia Llanos Vidal, an official from the municipality of La Molina. According to reports, Jerí was seen drinking with guests and disregarding social-distancing rules despite a decree from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers enforcing restrictions due to the pandemic.[17][18]
Alleged sexual assault case
[edit]In January 2025, Jerí was formally accused of sexual assault following a New Year's Eve party in Canta. The alleged incident took place at the Santa Rosa Casa Club in Quives on 29 December 2024, where Jerí was with a group of friends. Among the guests was Marco Antonio Cardoza Hurtado, who had arrived with a 31-year-old woman (the complainant) and another person. According to the complainant, she lost consciousness that afternoon and later woke up with pain in her intimate parts. The complaint identified both Jerí and Cardoza as suspects.[1][19][20]
The Civil Court of Canta admitted the complaint, issued protective measures for the alleged victim, and ordered Jerí to undergo psychological treatment for impulsive and pathological sexual behavior. Despite being temporarily suspended by his party, he reportedly failed to comply with the court order for more than five months. As a result, Attorney General Delia Espinoza filed a separate complaint for disobedience to authority, citing Article 368 of the Criminal Code.[21]
On 12 August 2025, the Public Prosecutor's Office, now led by Tomás Gálvez, dismissed the case against Jerí for the alleged assault after determining there was insufficient evidence to proceed. It was also reported that Cardoza Hurtado, the other suspect, had left Peru for France on 4 February without notifying prosecutors and failed to appear for the collection of biological samples.[22][23]
Alleged illicit enrichment
[edit]The television program Milagros Leiva, entrevista reported an alleged case of illicit enrichment involving Jerí, noting a sharp increase in his declared assets. In 2021 he declared ownership of two vehicles worth S/ 97,000 soles, but by 2024 he reportedly owned properties valued at more than one million soles.[21][24][25]
Alleged bribery accusation
[edit]The investigative television program Panorama alleged that Jerí had received a bribe of S/ 150,000 soles from a businesswoman named Blanca Ríos. The alleged payment took place in November 2023, when Jerí chaired the congressional budget committee, in connection with the approval of public works projects under the portfolio of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. According to Ríos's testimony, the payment was made to secure funding for an irrigation project in the Cajamarca region. The case also implicated congresswoman Ana Zegarra, spokesperson for the We Are Peru party, and Nahum Hidalgo, an advisor to the Somos Perú parliamentary group. Jerí denied the accusation, stating he had no connection with the person involved and declared that he would cooperate with all investigations.[26][27][28]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Mandujano, Edgar (10 October 2025). "José Jerí Oré: el presidente improbable" [José Jerí Oré: the unlikely president]. Caretas (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ "¿Quién es José Jerí, el nuevo presidente del Congreso?" [Who is José Jerí, the new president of Congress?]. Caretas (in Spanish). 26 July 2025.
- ^ "José Jerí es el nuevo presidente del Congreso: las bancadas que lo apoyaron y cómo fue la votación en el Parlamento" [José Jerí is the new president of Congress: the caucuses that supported him and how the vote went in Parliament] (in Spanish). Infobae. 26 July 2025.
- ^ "Peru's Vizcarra banned from public office over vaccine scandal". Al Jazeera. 17 April 2021.
- ^ a b Loo, Wendy Milla (26 July 2025). "José Jerí, new president of Congress [PROFILE]". rpp.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
- ^ a b c d Aquino, Marco; Morland, Sarah (10 October 2025). "Peru Congress ousts president, successor vows 'war on crime'". Reuters. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ a b c Ortiz, Andy (10 October 2025). "¿Quién es José Jerí, el inesperado nuevo presidente de Perú?" [Who is José Jerí, the unexpected new president of Peru?]. CNN en Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ "View of the Candidate's Resume". JNE - Electoral Platform. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "José Jerí Oré - Party History". Infogob. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "José Jerí Oré - Electoral Processes". Infogob. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "2021 Elections: Who is José Jeri, who will enter Congress after Martín Vizcarra's disqualification?". RPP Noticias. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ PERU, Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA (26 July 2021). "Congress: List 3 was excluded from the election of the Board of Directors". andina.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "José Jerí, new president of Congress, shielded Dina Boluarte from accusations of deaths in protests". Radio Onda Azul (in Spanish). 26 July 2025. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
- ^ Calderón, Martín (10 October 2025). "José Jerí swears in as president of the Republic due to the vacancy of Dina Boluarte". El Commerce (in Spanish). ISSN 1605-3052. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ Espinoza, Por Analí (10 October 2025). "Dina Boluarte is vacated due to "permanent moral incapacity" by the Congress of Peru". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ Mandujano, Edgar (10 October 2025). "Dina Boluarte, vacada: 8 presidentes en 9 años - Caretas Política". Caretas (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ "El "after office" del congresista José Jerí" [The 'after office' of Congressman José Jerí]. El Foco (in Spanish). 8 February 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ "Captan a congresista José Jerí celebrando en bar sin respetar protocolos ante la COVID-19" [Congressman José Jerí caught celebrating in a bar without following COVID-19 protocols]. La República (in Spanish). 9 February 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ "La copa rota del congresista de Somos Perú José Jerí" [The broken glass of Somos Perú congressman José Jerí]. Perú 21 (in Spanish). 14 January 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ Giraldo, Clara (10 January 2025). "José Jerí, denunciado por presunta violación sexual: lo que se sabe del caso y la investigación de la Fiscalía" [José Jerí, accused of alleged sexual assault: what is known about the case and the Prosecutor’s Office investigation]. infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ a b "Los pasivos de José Jerí en su camino a la presidencia Congreso" [José Jerí's liabilities on his path to the presidency of Congress]. Perú 21 (in Spanish). 25 July 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ Ore, Diego Casimiro (16 August 2025). "Amigo de José Jerí investigado por presunta violación sexual salió del país antes de que el PJ lo impidiera" [Friend of José Jerí investigated for alleged sexual assault left the country before the judiciary could prevent it]. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 October 2025.
- ^ "José Jerí se reunió con Tomás Gálvez, quien le archivó la denuncia de violación sexual" [José Jerí met with Tomás Gálvez, who dismissed his sexual assault complaint]. Crónica Viva (in Spanish). 26 September 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ Quilca Catacora, Mariana (26 July 2025). "José Jerí es el nuevo presidente del Congreso: perfil, antecedentes y denuncias" [José Jerí is the new president of Congress: profile, background, and accusations]. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2025.
- ^ Quilca Catacora, Mariana (25 July 2025). "José Jerí es el nuevo presidente del Congreso: cuestionamientos de los nuevos integrantes de la Mesa Directiva" [José Jerí is the new president of Congress: objections from the new members of the Board of Directors]. Infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
- ^ Quilca Catacora, Mariana (26 July 2025). "APP exige explicaciones a José Jerí por denuncia de coima de S/ 150 mil: "Tiene que aclarar"" [APP demands explanations from José Jerí over S/150,000 bribery accusation: 'He must clarify']. Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ Arroyo, Pamela (27 July 2025). "José Jerí rechaza investigación por pago de coimas en su contra: "Tengo la consciencia tranquila"" [José Jerí rejects investigation over alleged bribes against him: 'My conscience is clear]. La República (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ "Denuncian que José Jerí sabía del pago de coimas para una obra" [It is alleged that José Jerí knew about the payment of bribes for a public works project]. Perú 21 (in Spanish). 28 July 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
1 President is a non-participant; Taiwan is represented as Chinese Taipei. |
