Peruvian President Declares 2019 Year Of Fight Against Corruption - Administration

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published January 10, 2019 | 01:42 AM

BUENOS AIRES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra has declared "the fight against corruption and impunity" as the slogan for 2019, his administration said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The president announced that 2019 will be the year of the fight against corruption and impunity, since this is the pillar of the government policy," the statement read.

Vizcarra said, as quoted in the statement, that his country was entering a "decisive" period concerning the fight against corruption.

According to Vizcarra's estimates, corruption costs his country over 10 billion sols (almost $3 billion) a year.

Since coming to power in spring 2018, Vizcarra has declared fighting against corruption as a priority task.

Former Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who ruled the country before Vizcarra, is charged with receiving a total of $4.8 million in bribes from local construction and development company Odebrecht.

The tradition to announce an official slogan for every year exists in Peru since 1963. Thus, 2018 was the year of dialogue and national reconciliation.