Peru’s Kuczynski rejects opposition calls to resign

Bloomberg

Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski rejected calls from opposition lawmakers for his resignation and said allegations he lied to Congress are groundless. Kuczynski said his decision to pardon former President Alberto Fujimori is the real reason why leftist lawmakers are seeking a new motion to impeach him. “I won’t resign,” he told business leaders at an event in Lima. “It’s not a personal matter, it’s an institutional matter. I was elected for five years and I’ll complete the five years.”
Kuczynski may face a new impeachment motion when Congress returns from recess next month after he narrowly survived a Dec 21 vote amid allegations he lied to Congress. Opposition lawmakers say there is fresh evidence the president lied about an alleged conflict of interest over a decade ago when the ministerial cabinet he led awarded contracts to Odebrecht SA. He denies the allegations and accused the media of putting pressure on him to resign.
“I’m going to defend myself fiercely against the editorials, against all those who write and say I must resign. It’s crazy. It’s crazy,” Kuczynski said. “A country that’s doing well, that’s making progress, and we’re going to throw away the Constitution.” Leftist party Nuevo Peru said last week it is discussing with other groups the text of a new impeachment motion. Popular Force, a right-wing opposition party that’s the biggest in Congress, has said the president should be forced out if he doesn’t quit first, though it hasn’t decided whether to support the leftists’ proposal.