Peru PM Resigns Amid Influence-peddling Claims

Lima, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Mar, 2024) Peru's powerful Prime Minister Alberto Otarola resigned Tuesday amid allegations of influence-peddling to help a young woman he is said to have addressed lovingly in recordings released by news media.

Otarola told reporters in Lima that "in conversation with the President of the Republic I have announced my decision to present my resignation."

Otarola is a seasoned politician and lawyer who acted as chief of staff to President Dina Boluarte, who ordered him home from an official trip to Canada after the scandal erupted last weekend.

Otarola, 57, is married and has five children.

Over the weekend, the television program Panorama released what it said were recordings of Otarola in conversation with a woman named Yazire Pinedo, 25, who landed two contracts this year worth a total of $14,000 to do archive and administrative work for the government.