AssessmentsDec 20, 2017 | 09:00 GMT
In Peru, Presidential Impeachment Is No Idle Threat
Peru may vote out its president by the end of the week. The largest opposition party, Popular Force, has demanded President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's resignation, slating an impeachment vote for Dec. 21. Kuczynski was asked to resign over alleged corruption relating to payments by Brazil's largest construction firm, Odebrecht. Investigators looking into bribery of Peruvian officials by the Brazilian company uncovered more than $700,000 in what lawmakers claim were unreported payments to Kuczynski from 2004 to 2012. It's these payments during his tenure in government that are at the heart of the growing corruption scandal. From 2004 to 2005, Kuczynski was economic minister under former President Alejandro Toledo. From 2005 to 2006, he was the country's prime minister. And while an impeachment may not destabilize the Peruvian government, the opposition's demand is not an idle threat.
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