Peru's PM to resign after censure vote, spy allegations

Peru's Prime Minister Ana Jara will resign after losing a confidence vote in Congress following allegations of spying on her opponents. The resignation delivers a blow to President Ollanta Humala, who will now have to form another new government as the censure by lawmakers in the opposition-controlled house forces Jara’s entire government to resign.

Lawmakers voted 72-42 against Jara late Monday in the censure motion that came less than a year after she took office. 

“It is an honor that this Congress has censured me,” Jara said on Twitter. She has denied snooping on rivals, businesspeople and journalists sympathetic to the opposition. 

The censure came after Peruvian weekly magazine Correo Semanal published on March 19 a list of targets allegedly spied on by the National Intelligence Directorate, BBC News reported. Although Jara ordered an investigation into the alleged spying and fired the executive director of the National Intelligence Directorate, "it wasn't enough to placate opposition members of Congress," The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Humala will be constitutionally bound to accept Jara's resignation, which must come within 72 hours of the vote. 

Humala must name a new prime minister, but he can reappoint cabinet ministers. There was no immediate indication from the president as to whether he would replace 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.

Humala has dismissed criticism as political noise ahead of next year's presidential vote. He is constitutionally barred from seeking a second straight term.

The spying scandal forced a restructuring of Peru's National Intelligence Office, which answers to the prime minister.

Peru’s political climate will deteriorate ahead of the 2016 vote, consultancy Eurasia Group told clients in a note ahead of Monday's vote.

“Still, with no meaningful reforms pending discussion, this will have limited policy impact,” Eurasia said.

In the 1990s, Peru was rocked by a spying scandal that led to the resignations and eventual arrests of former President Alberto Fujimori and his intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos. 

Al Jazeera and Reuters