Who is José María Balcázar?

Introduction

In early 2026, the South American nation of Peru found itself once again caught in the grip of political instability. The swift removal of yet another interim president – this time José Jerí—prompted the Congress of the Republic to turn to an octogenarian lawmaker: José María Balcázar Zelada. On 18 February 2026, Balcázar was elected by the legislature as Peru’s interim president under its constitutional provisions for succession, inheriting a deeply fractured political landscape mere weeks before scheduled general elections.

His ascension was as controversial as it was symbolically significant: an older, left‑wing jurist and legislator rising to the highest office amid a decade of revolving leadership -illustrative of broader institutional stress in Peruvian governance.

1. Early Life and Education

José María Balcázar Zelada was born on 17 January 1943 in Nánchoc, a small district in the province of San Miguel within the northern Peruvian region of Cajamarca.

His upbringing in this agricultural region formed his early worldview at a time of profound social and economic transformation in mid-20th century Peru. Though from a modest background, Balcázar pursued higher education with determination.

He enrolled at the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, one of Peru’s respected public universities, where he studied law. After completing his undergraduate studies in law in 1972, Balcázar later pursued advanced graduate education, culminating in a doctorate in Law and Political Science in 2005 from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo.

Balcázar also worked as a legal academic, teaching law at the university where he studied – a role that allowed him to blend theory and practical legal understanding while mentoring a generation of Peruvian lawyers.

2. Legal and Judicial Career

Before entering formal politics, Balcázar built a long professional career within Peru’s judicial system. His rise through legal ranks was gradual but substantial:

He became a senior member of the Superior Court of Justice of Lambayeque, one of Peru’s important regional judicial bodies, where he adjudicated civil cases and oversaw judicial processes with broad regional impact.
For a time, Balcázar served as provisional supreme prosecutor on the Supreme Court of Peru, where he was assigned to the Permanent Civil Chamber. This position placed him in the midst of complex judicial work impacting national jurisprudence.

However, even his judicial career was not without controversy. In the early 2000s, he faced disciplinary proceedings related to controversial legal decisions and was eventually removed from the bench in 2011 after a procedural review highlighted deficiencies in his legal reasoning and professional conduct—an event that cast a long shadow over his later public image.

Despite this professional setback, Balcázar maintained relevance within legal and public circles, later assuming leadership roles such as Dean of the Lambayeque Bar Association (ICAL). But this too was followed by accusations of misappropriating association funds—an ongoing legal controversy that would resurface in public debates during his political career.

3. Entry into Politics and Legislative Career

2021 Congressional Election

Balcázar’s formal entry into national politics occurred during the 2021 general elections. He ran as a candidate for the Congreso de la República representing the Lambayeque region on the ticket of Perú Libre (Free Peru), the leftist party led by Pedro Castillo, who had won the presidency that year. Balcázar secured a seat in Congress, marking the start of his career as a national legislator.

Choosing Perú Libre aligned him with a faction of Peruvian politics associated with agrarian populism, worker rights, and state intervention—but also controversial for its ties to political radicalism and institutional polarization.

Legislative Roles

Once in Congress, Balcázar assumed influential positions:

President of the Special Committee tasked with selecting members of the Constitutional Court (2021–2022), a critical institution in Peru’s political architecture.
Vice‑President of the Justice Committee, giving him a voice in legislative oversight of legal reforms, judicial processes, and institutional accountability efforts.

These roles placed him at the center of parliamentary decision‑making, particularly at a time when Peru’s legislature was frequently at odds with executive power and narrowly balanced.

Shifting Affiliations

Balcázar’s political affiliations also shifted during his legislative tenure:

In 2022, he left Perú Libre and established a satellite faction named Perú Bicentenario after disagreements with party leadership.
However, when that faction dissolved, he returned to Perú Libre’s caucus in 2024—though notably without fully rejoining the party as a member.

Politics in Peru is marked by fragmentation and factional shifts; Balcázar’s movements reflected both ideological tensions and strategic positioning amid rapidly changing parliamentary alignments.

He did not seek re‑election in the 2026 general election, indicating either a temporary political pause or a strategic withdrawal ahead of his unexpected ascension to interim leadership.

4. Controversies and Public Perception

No politician of Balcázar’s longevity avoids controversy—and in his case, several issues shaped public perception and media discourse.

Misappropriation Allegations

During his leadership of the Lambayeque Bar Association (ICAL), Balcázar was accused of misappropriating more than two million Peruvian soles, allegedly directing association funds into personal accounts rather than properly accounting for them. This legal case became part of ongoing proceedings and public scrutiny by late 2024.

The controversy highlighted concerns about ethical conduct and financial transparency—a sensitive topic in a country long plagued by corruption scandals among politicians and judges alike.

Controversial Statements on Marriage and Education

In 2023, Balcázar gained nationwide attention for remarks defending child marriage and inappropriate relationships between teachers and students. During debates on a bill to criminalize child marriage, he stated that unions or sexual relations involving adolescents as young as 14 were acceptable—a stance that was widely condemned as justifying exploitation and endangering rights.

These comments triggered strong backlash from civil society, including Peru’s Ministry of Women, which denounced them as harmful and promoting sexual violence against minors.
Critics saw this debate as emblematic of broader weaknesses in the legislative system, where moral and legal standards are contested within a deeply divided political arena.

Such positions affected Balcázar’s reputation among human rights groups and progressive activists, adding additional complexity to his legacy as a public figure.

5. Peru’s Political Turmoil and the Path to the Presidency

A Decade of Instability

Peru’s political landscape in the 2010s and early 2020s became characterized by frequent leadership changes, fractured parties, and strained executive‑legislative relations. Between 2018 and 2026, several presidents were impeached, resigned, or served brief interim terms amid corruption probes and political deadlock—a cycle that eroded institutional stability.

By early 2026, the country had gone through eight presidents in under a decade, a staggering turnover for any democracy and especially destabilizing for governance, policymaking, and public trust.

Fall of Predecessors

Prior to Balcázar’s rise, José Jerí served as interim president beginning in late 2025 but was removed by Congress amid corruption allegations connected with undisclosed meetings with foreign businessmen and questions of influence peddling.

Jerí’s removal came just weeks before Peru’s 12 April 2026 general election, leaving a constitutional gap on the threshold of a critical democratic transition.

6. Election to the Interim Presidency

Congressional Vote and Succession

On 18 February 2026, amidst a tumultuous session, the Peruvian Congress elected José María Balcázar as President of Congress, which under Peruvian constitutional law immediately placed him as the interim President of the Republic given the death or removal of the sitting president.

Balcázar defeated several candidates, including María del Carmen Alva, winning a majority of congressional support after multiple ballots.
He was sworn in later that night, receiving the presidential sash and assuming command of the Government Palace in Lima.

At 83 years old, Balcázar also became the oldest person in Peru’s history to serve as president—a symbolic marker of both experience and the unusual political dynamics that had brought him to power.

Interim Mandate

His mandate was explicitly interim: designed to bridge the gap between the removal of his predecessor and the scheduled democratic election set for April 2026.

Peru’s constitution obligates such interim presidents to uphold the electoral process and maintain stability until a new president is sworn in, expected on 28 July 2026—Independence Day.

7. Governance, Challenges, and Political Goals

Main Priorities

In his first address to Congress as president, Balcázar articulated several key aims:

Ensuring a peaceful, transparent, and credible electoral transition ahead of the April election.
Steadying Peru’s political institutions against further crisis or public unrest.
Reinforcing democratic norms in a fractured legislature.
Promoting governance continuity while refraining from major policy shifts given the short duration of his term.

His task was less to set a long‑range agenda than to preserve order and legitimacy during an extremely fragile window for Peru’s political system.

Tension Between Tradition and Reform

Yet Balcázar’s own ideological and personal controversies complicated this mandate:

His past comments on socially conservative positions such as child marriage and teacher–student relations made him a polarizing figure across significant segments of Peru’s civil society and advocacy groups.
Ongoing legal cases regarding financial conduct remained part of the public discourse, raising questions about accountability and ethical leadership.

These tensions meant that while many in Peru’s political elite regarded his presidency as a necessary stopgap in turbulent times, many ordinary citizens and international observers were skeptical about his ability to unify or inspire trust.

8. The Broader Context: Peru’s Democratic Strain

Institutional Weaknesses

Peru’s rapid succession of presidents over the past decade is not merely a political statistic; it reflects deep structural challenges:

A fragmented party system that makes coalition building difficult.
An assertive legislature willing to use impeachment and censure mechanisms to remove executive leaders, sometimes on broadly interpreted grounds such as “moral incapacity.”
Weak public confidence in political institutions after repeated corruption scandals involving presidents, attorneys general, and members of Congress.

Amid these pressures, the rise of someone like Balcázar – who embodies both institutional experience and controversial legacies – underscores how political gridlock can elevate unexpected figures during crises.

Upcoming Elections and Challenges Ahead

As Peru approached the April 2026 election, the political environment remained volatile:

Public demand for stability was high, yet distrust of political elites was widespread.
The economic situation, social inequality, and debates on civil rights and governance reform were expected to dominate electoral campaigns.
Questions about how to address corruption, judicial independence, and institutional integrity were priorities for voters – even as political polarization made broad consensus difficult.