LIMA – Peruvian Prime Minister Hector Valer confirmed on Saturday that he is departing just four days after being named to the post, following allegations that he beat his daughter and late wife, creating a new leadership vacuum in the Andean nation.
President Pedro Castillo said on Friday he would reshuffle the Cabinet in light of the allegations, but did not address whether Valer would leave.
Castillo must now name his fourth cabinet in just six months, which he said will incorporate representatives of a range of political groups. It is unclear when an announcement will take place.
Castillo, a former schoolteacher and member of a Marxist-Leninist party, has moved increasingly to the right since taking office last July.
His first prime minister was a far-left party leader, who was replaced in October by a moderate-left politician, before Castillo appointed Valer this week.
Valer is a lawmaker and conservative Catholic who ran with a right-wing party before defecting to join a Congressional bloc that is friendly with Castillo.
Peru’s prime minister is a powerful figure. The PM is the chief adviser to the president, and presides and helps appoint the rest of the Cabinet.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Leslie Adler)
