Fujimori to Stay in Japan

L I M A, Peru, Nov. 21, 2000 -- A disgraced President Alberto Fujimori today saidhe would stay in Japan “for a long time,” while the leader of Peru’s opposition-controlled Congress emerged as his likely successor.

After Fujimori’s resignation, two of his former allies in line to succeed him stepped aside. That opened the way today for Valentin Paniagua, a political moderate aligned with the opposition, to become interim president until a new president is sworn in July 28 after April elections.

While many Peruvians celebrated at home, Fujimori said he was talking to Japan’s Foreign Ministry about staying in his ancestral homeland, though he said he was not seeking political asylum.

“I want to go back [to Peru] someday, but I don’t know when,” Fujimori said today at a news conference at the Tokyo hotel where he has been holed up. “I should be here for a long time.”

Fujimori, 62, the Peruvian-born son of Japanese immigrants, had little to say about why he had resigned, saying the reasons would be made public someday.

But he insisted his decision to stay in Japan had “nothing to do with the scandal” that led to the collapse of his rule. He also denied having bank accounts abroad — apparently referring to suspicions he was connected to the millions of dollars his former spymaster, Vladimiro Montesinos, allegedly stole from state coffers.

Fujimori soared into office 10 years ago in a stunning election upset. He subdued leftist insurgencies and brought economic chaos to heel while imposing an authoritarian rule. His popularity in his third term was eroded by corruption scandals surrounding Montesinos.

After he submitted his resignation Monday, Fujimori’s jubilant foes cavorted in public fountains or raised signs declaring: “The people have triumphed, the dictatorship has fallen!”

Opposition Poised to Take Over

Congress today voted to accept the resignation of FirstVice President Francisco Tudela, removing him from the line of succession and opening the way for a vote, expected later in the day, to confirm Paniagua as interim president.

Second Vice President Ricardo Marquez — who would be next in line under the constitution — resigned several hours after Fujimori, in a bitter statement following opposition pressure.

“Thinking of Peru, and finding myself with dignity in the country where I will remain, I have made the decision to present my irrevocable resignation,” he said Monday night.

Tudela had submitted his resignation Oct. 23 in a protest amid the Montesinos affair, but Congress had not yet formally accepted it.

At the Congress session today, Tudela told lawmakers he wasnot interested in serving as interim president or running in the special April 8 presidential vote as many had expected he would.

“Paniagua has my vote,” he said. “I am not interested in the presidency of the Republic, nor do I suffer from presidential fever.” Congress then voted to accept his resignation.

Peter Romero, U.S. acting assistant secretary of state forWestern Hemisphere affairs, called for an orderly transition after traveling here with a high-level U.S. delegation Monday. “Our support is for the process and not for any particular person or party,” he said.

Connections to Ex-Spy Chief

It was Montesinos’ mid-September appearance in a videotapeleaked to the media apparently bribing a newly elected opposition congressman that prompted Fujimori to announce he would step down next July after new elections.

In the ensuing scandal, Fujimori — who won a questionable third five-year term in May, marred by irregularities and fraud allegations — could not hang on through the transition.

“I have again asked myself about my presence and participation in this transition process and I have come to the conclusion that I should formally resign,” he wrote in his resignation letter Monday.

Lingering poverty, weariness with his autocratic ways and his inability to convince Peruvians that he knew nothing about Montesinos’ reputedly vast network of corruption — including alleged money laundering, narcotics trafficking and arms dealing — caught up with Fujimori.

“Let us build a government based on decent institutions,respect for democratic dignity. This is the dream of the Peruvian people,” said main opposition leader Alejandro Toledo.

Opposition lawmakers gained control of Peru’s legislature last week for the first time in eight years after Paniagua was successfully voted Congress president. Some said they planned to reject Fujimori’s resignation and argue to vote him out of office on constitutional grounds of “moral incapacity.”

Fujimori had traveled to Japan several times during hispresidency and has close ties with the Tokyo government. His son, Hiro, lives in Japan, as do his sister and brother-in-law, who is Peru’s ambassador to Tokyo.

But Fujimori is not a Japanese citizen. According to Japanese immigration lawyer Naoya Wada, children who are born abroad to Japanese parents retain the right to citizenship automatically only until they turn 22.

But Fujimori would likely get favorable treatment if he chose to apply for naturalization, Wada said.