Peruvian President Rejects Calls for His Resignation

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has said he will not leave office and rejected accusations against him for alleged acts of corruption. 

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In doing so, he asked the State Prosecutor's Office to lift his bank secrecy.

"I am here to face this. I neither run, nor hide, nor do I have any reason to do so," Kuczynski said on Thursday after circulation of a report on payments he allegedly received from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Kuczynski came under scrutiny on Wednesday, after the Congressional Commission investigating Odebrecht's network of corruption revealed he had received payments by Odebrecht when he was a state minister. The payments were made to Westfield Capital Ltd, a company owned by Kuczynski.       

"The President is no longer in the moral or ethical capacity to continue leading the country," said Daniel Salaverry, spokesman for the main opposition party, in a press conference on Thursday.

Nos costó mucho recuperar esta democracia. No la volvamos a perder. No voy a abdicar ni a mi honor, ni a mis valores, ni a mis responsabilidades como presidente de todos los peruanos.

— PedroPablo Kuczynski (@ppkamigo) December 15, 2017

In response to the calls for his resignation, Kuczynski pleaded via Twitter, "recovering this democracy was difficult. Let us not lose it again.

"I will not abdicate my honor, nor my values, nor my responsibilities as president of all Peruvians," he added.

Other political actors across party lines are also involved in the Odebrecht corruption scandal. Former President Ollanta Humala is currently in prison, while former President Alan Garcia and opposition leader Keiko Fujimori are under investigation.