New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- Peru's Congress voted Tuesday to remove interim President Jose Jeri from office as he faces corruption allegations, triggering a fresh wave of political instability just weeks before the nation's April presidential and congressional elections.

Jeri is under a preliminary investigation into corruption and influence peddling, stemming from a series of undisclosed meetings with two Chinese executives.

With 75 votes in favor, 24 against and three abstentions, Peru's legislature voted to remove Jeri from the position he had assumed on Oct. 10 when predecessor Dina Boluarte was dismissed as a crime wave gripped the country.

Jeri's removal from office is the latest chapter in a prolonged political crisis in a country tha...