LIMA (Reuters) ? Peru's President Ollanta Humala said Sunday he thought Omar Chehade should consider resigning as one of his two vice presidents, but that he would wait for investigations to conclude before deciding his fate.
Humala, who spoke on state television about the first 100 days of his term, campaigned on promises to fight corruption. The allegations against Chehade have caused the first political scandal of Humala's administration and threatened his high approval ratings.
The attorney general and Congress are investigating allegations that Chehade asked a police general to help his brother evict workers from a cooperative sugar plantation to help a company that wants to take it over.
"We'll let the ethics commission in Congress resolve this," Humala said. "Personally, I think it would do good for him to step down, but this should come from him. I think doing so would better allow him to defend himself, not just in front of Congress but also the attorney general."
Asked if he had directly asked Chehade to step down, Humala said: "No, I'm not asking for him to resign. I think it would be convenient for him to do so and it's a decision he should arrive at on his own."
Chehade, a lawyer, has denied any wrongdoing.
Humala, a leftist who has pleased investors by governing from the center and keeping pro-market economic policies intact, has an approval rating higher than 60 percent, making him the most popular Peruvian leader in about two decades.
He has tried to spread the wealth from a decade-long economic boom to the one third of Peruvians still mired in poverty by expanding social programs, introducing a minimum monthly pension for poor senior citizens, and charging higher taxes and royalties on companies in Peru's vast mining sector.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Terry Wade; editing by Christopher Wilson)
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