Prosecutors
alleged in the Supreme Court on Thursday that tapped phone calls
implicated Perez in a scheme to defraud the state [Reuters]
Guatemala's
congress has sworn in a former judge as president while his predecessor
has appeared in court over corruption allegations just hours after
resigning.
Alejandro
Maldonado, a 79-year-old conservative who only became vice president in
May, will serve out the rest of Otto Perez Molina's term, handing over
on January 14.
Separately
on Thursday, a judge - citing a flight risk - ordered Perez to be held
in prison while hearings over his alleged role in a customs-corruption
scandal continue.
Al Jazeera's
Daniel Schweimler, reporting from Guatemala City, said the developments
show "how fast and how far Perez has fallen. In the meantime, things
have been moving very very quickly here".
The attorney
general's office has said it plans to bring charges against Perez for
illicit association, taking bribes and customs fraud, though he has not
yet been formally charged. The hearing will continue on Friday.
Guatemala
will hold elections on Sunday to choose Perez's successor, in a climate
of widespread outrage over the corruption scandal and broad rejection of
the traditional political elite.
Speaking
after taking the oath of office, Maldonado, a former judge on the
Constitutional Court, said: "The new government must emerge from the
need to inspire citizens' confidence, opening a space in public service
for mature and experienced people but also young professionals and
social activists."
Congress had
earlier voted unanimously to accept Perez's resignation, which he
submitted just before midnight on Wednesday after politicians stripped
him of his presidential immunity.
Tapped phone calls
As Maldonado
was putting on the presidential sash, Perez appeared before the Supreme
Court, looking uncomfortable as prosecutors detailed their accusations
against him.
Perez, 64, a
former military intelligence officer, had been in office since 2012. He
was ineligible for re-election and would have handed over power in
January.
Perez lowered his eyes as prosecutors played out tapped phone calls they say implicate him in a scheme to defraud the state.
Investigators
believe Perez received $3.7m in bribes paid by importers in exchange
for illegal discounts on their customs duty, according to Antonio
Morales, a prosecutor.
Roxana
Baldetti, Perez's former vice president who resigned in May, has already
been charged with taking $3.8m in bribes between May 2014 and April
2015.
Thursday's
hearing could see Perez remanded in custody pending trial - a decision
that would in any case have automatically removed him from office under
Guatemalan law.
"I'm calm
and I will face the situation bravely because I've done nothing wrong,"
Perez told a local radio station before his court appearance on
Thursday.
He stepped down after clinging to power through months of mounting protests.
Guatemalans
fed up with corruption erupted in celebration outside the Supreme Court
early on Thursday on the news of Perez's resignation.
Thousands have hit the streets in protest since the scandal first erupted in April, on a scale never before seen in Guatemala.
Civil war's shadow
The accusations have caused outrage in the Central American country of 15 million people, 53.7 percent of whom live in poverty.
Also the
scars are still fresh from a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996, and
which has the dubious distinction of being one of Latin America's most
violent nations, with about 6,000 murders each year.
The scandal
was uncovered by investigators from a UN commission entrusted with
fighting high-level corruption in Guatemala, who say they found evidence
that Perez orchestrated a scheme dubbed La Linea (The Line), named for
the hotline that importers would allegedly call to access a network of
corrupt officials.
Investigators say their accusations are based on 89,000 tapped phone calls.
The climate
in Guatemala is jubilant but tense heading into Sunday's elections,
which will also choose the members of the 158-seat legislature and 338
mayors.
Rights
groups have reported cases of political party activists attacking
protesters, and some 10 candidates were murdered between March and
August.
In a sign of
Guatemalans' exasperation with politics as usual, a poll published on
Thursday found the leading candidate in the presidential vote is now
actor Jimmy Morales.
The poll
gave Morales 25 percent support, ahead of the former front-runner,
lawyer Manuel Baldizon (22.9 percent), and former first lady Sandra
Torres (18.4 percent).
The three candidates will perhaps compete for the two spots in a runoff vote on October 25.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni