World
  |
|
Argentine economy minister resigns after corruption allegations
AFP
BUENOS AIRES
Petroleumworld.com 07 17 07Argentine Economy Minister Felisa Miceli submitted her resignation Monday after a prosecutor requested an investigation into 64,000 dollars found in her office lavatory, her spokesman said.
"I confirm her resignation officially," Silvio Robles told reporters at the Economy Ministry.
After the announcement, President Nestor Kirchner and Miceli met for an hour behind closed doors, presumably to discuss her resignation, which the president can either accept or reject.
A federal prosecutor on Monday called for an investigation into corruption allegations involving 64,000 dollars in cash found stashed in Miceli's office lavatory during a routine search of ministry premises on June 5.
Despite Miceli's explanation that the money was for a down payment for a house, the prosecutor said he had "gathered enough evidence" supporting the suspicion Miceli "failed to abide by her duties as a public official."
He also said the minister was suspected of destroying public documents and of a cover up.
Miceli, 53, is the first member of Kirchner's cabinet to be smeared by corruption allegations.
After a newspaper broke the story of Miceli's stashed cash on June 24, opposition politicians demanded that she be sacked.
They accused Miceli of having accepted one or more bribes, of destroying documents and of giving false testimony, and they threatened to seek the Supreme Court's intervention if the government failed to file charges against her.
Miceli earlier this month denied any wrongdoing and explained that the cash, partly hers and partly her businessman brother's, was a down payment for a house. Real estate agents in Argentina regularly demand cash for such transactions.
She said she stashed the money in her office bathroom for safekeeping and accused her political enemies of a "ruthless" smear campaign against her.
Miceli said she believes the controversy has been trumped up to influence the October 28, 2007 presidential election in which Kirchner's wife is a candidate -- she is launching her campaign on Thursday.
"It's a political attack, not against me, but against the government during a political year," she said.
President Kirchner said through his spokesman on July 9 that he stood by his economy minister, rejecting opposition calls for her resignation.
Miceli, who took over her post at the end of 2005, added that she also has made many political enemies during her tenure who could be eager to get rid of her.
After succeeding Roberto Lavagna, who had a falling out with Kirchner and now is also running for president in October, Miceli discovered she was limited in her capacity as economy minister, with inflation and energy issues handled by two other ministers who are close friends of the president -- Planning Minister Julio De Vido and Interior Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno.
AFP 12250 GMT 07 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels