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Peru's prime minister to resign after censure vote
Peru's Prime Minister Ana Jara (L) and Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez look at a recovered textile from the Paracas pre-hispanic period at the Foreign Ministry in Lima, February 24, 2015. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil
31/03/2015
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's prime minister was ousted by Congress in a vote of no confidence late on Monday following allegations of spying on her opponents, delivering a blow to President Ollanta Humala who will now have to form another new government.
Seventy-two lawmakers voted to remove Prime Minister Ana Jara from office after less than a year in the job, while 42 opposed the move.
"It is an honor that this Congress has censured me," Jara said in a Twitter message.
Jara, who denies snooping on her political rivals, must now present her resignation to the president, who has 72 hours to accept it.
Humala's next prime minister will be his seventh in his less than four years in office. He can, however, reappoint cabinet ministers.
There were no immediate indications from the president after the vote as to whether he would replace the country's economy minister, Alonso Segura, who is popular among investors and Peru's business community.
Humala's approval rating has hovered around 25 percent this year, according to polling firm Ipsos Peru, as graft accusations and scandals mount. He has dismissed criticism as political noise ahead of next year's presidential vote, in which he is constitutionally barred from seeking a second straight term.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino, Writing by Richard Lough; editing by John Stonestreet and Chizu Nomiyama)
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