Francisco Sagasti

Francisco Rafael Sagasti Hochhausler OSP (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈsisko rafaˈel saˈɣasti xoˈxawsleɾ] ^ⓘ; born 10 October 1944) is a Peruvian engineer, academic, politician, and author who served as the President of Peru from November 2020 to July 2021.

Sagasti has worked as an advisor for economic development at the International Development Research Centre, World Bank, UNCSTD and the World Economic Forum. After the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis, Sagasti left his position at the World Bank to return to Peru. In 2016, he helped found the centrist Purple Party with Julio Guzmán. Following the dissolution of congress in 2019, he was elected into congress in January 2020, serving from March to November 2020 as a Member of Congress, representing the Lima constituency.

On 10 November 2020, following a controversial express impeachment and removal of President Martín Vizcarra by Congress due to allegations of "moral incapacity" (a 19th century concept for mental incapacity), President of Congress Manuel Merino became President of Peru. The impeachment was considered a covert parliamentary coup by many people, and after a less than a week of violent repression of the resulting mass protests, Merino resigned as the country's leader on 15 November. On 16 November, Sagasti was elected by his fellow Congressmen to succeed Merino as president of Congress so that Sagasti could become President of Peru according to the presidential line of succession. On 17 November, Sagasti became acting President of Peru.

Sagasti's presidency called itself a “transitional and emergency government”. Originally slated to run for the Second Vice Presidency with the Purple Party ticket for 2021 Peruvian general election, Sagasti quit the ticket in order to commit to his duties as President. His government coincided with the development of social conflicts such as the agrarian strike in Ica, Piura, La Libertad and Apurímac, which were resolved after the repeal of the so-called "Chlimper Law" that promoted investment in agriculture through meager labor benefits for workers from the field. Sagasti concluded the convoluted 2016–2021 presidential term on 28 July 2021, which had been started by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on 28 July 2016 and had seen four different presidents.