Guatemala: Prosecutors urge president to resign amid scandal

(washingtonpost) GUATEMALA CITY — Pressure grew Thursday on Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina to resign as business and government offices closed, protesters marched by the thousands and the attorney general’s office urged him to step down “to prevent ungovernability that could destabilize the nation.”

The government comptrollers’ office also issued a statement saying Perez Molina, whose government has been shaken by corruption scandals, should resign “to avoid greater social unrest that could have unpredictable consequences.”

Guatemala’s congress named a commission of five legislators Thursday to consider whether to remove the president’s immunity from prosecution, a process somewhat like impeachment. A previous effort failed.

Perez Molina, who is facing possible charges in a customs fraud scheme, has not spoken publicly since Sunday, when he denied any involvement and said emphatically that he would not resign. But his former ministers of defense and the interior, who had resigned from his cabinet recently, both left Guatemala between Wednesday and Thursday, the country’s immigration service confirmed.

Thousands of protesters marched in the capital following days of intermittent roadblocks by demonstrators who want the president to resign and the Sept. 6 presidential elections to be postponed.

Related: Guatemala’s Former President Detained After New President is Sworn In (09/03/15)