Estonian Prime Minister, Juri Ratas has announced his resignation from his position amid corruption allegations against his political party.
Estonia's
Public Prosecutor alleged that members of the Centre Party, including
Secretary-General Mihhail Korb, had engaged in 'influence-peddling related to a
real estate development in Porto Franco.'
Estonian
businessman Hillar Teder had agreed to donate up to one million euros to the
Centre Party in exchange for the right to build a car park in favour of the
real estate development, the public prosecutor's office alleges.
"The
evidence collected from the middle of January last year to the present refers
to various crimes, on the basis of which public proceedings were initiated
against people suspected of a crime today," Chief Public Prosecutor Taavi
Pern said in a post on Facebook, laying out other money-laundering allegations
as well.
"Today,
I made a decision to resign as prime minister," Ratas, who is the chairman
of the party, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday following an hours-long
party board meeting.
Ratas said he
hoped his resignation would help "shed light on all the circumstances and
reach clarity."
The
42-year-old insisted that he had not made "any malicious or knowingly
wrong decisions."
"As head
of government, I did not feel in the case of Porto Franco that any minister or
party had tried to sway the government's decisions in an illegal direction,”
Ratas said in his statement.
Estonian
President Kersti Kaljulaid now has 14 days to name a new prime minister who
would then have to be approved by parliament.
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