Closed The Peruvian Congress building will be vacated for a while as the Peru president ordered to dissolved the congress. AFP

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra consolidated power Tuesday in a tense stand-off with the opposition over corruption, confirming the backing of the armed forces, police and the international community after dissolving Congress.

Opposition lawmakers accused Vizcarra of mounting a “coup d’etat,” voting to suspend him temporarily from the presidency and appointing Vice President Mercedes Araoz as leader in what appeared to be a token gesture of defiance.

Thousands of people poured into the streets of Lima and other major cities in a show of support for Vizcarra hours after he announced the shut-down late Monday.

Crucially, the heads of Peru’s armed forces and police reaffirmed their allegiance to the president, as did around a dozen regional governors who joined celebratory street protests.

In a televised address late Monday, Vizcarra announced he was dissolving the opposition-dominated Congress after it blocked a raft of anti-corruption reforms, including changes to the way judges are appointed to the Supreme Court.

“There’s too much corruption. Too much of it without any shame. It’s high time this happened, that there’s a change,” said protester Jenny Sanchez in Lima, as demonstrators waved flags saying “New Peru.”

Araoz held meetings with opposition leaders in her home and vowed not to shirk the demands of her new position “no matter how difficult the circumstances may be,” though she told CNN she would comply if the Supreme Court ratified Congress’s dissolution.