LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru is lurching into a new period of political uncertainty Tuesday after President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the opposition-controlled congress and called new elections that he contends are needed to uproot the nation's endemic corruption.

Renegade lawmakers defied the chief of state, staying in their seats late into the night and even voting to suspend him from office and appoint a vice president who recently broke ranks in his place.

But thousands took to the streets in the capital waving Peruvian flags and celebrating Vizcarra's decision in a country where nearly every living president has been implicated in the Odebrecht graft scandal.

The stunning turn could spell new instability as Peru grapples with the fallout of the Odebrecht probe, plummeting faith in public institutions and an inexperienced president struggling to govern.