New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Thursday that there is no immediate basis for her to remove Winston Peters from his ministerial job, following his appearance before Parliament's privileges committee.
Peters told the committee on Wednesday evening he rejects the claim by expatriate businessman Owen Glenn that Peters approached him for money, Radio New Zealand reported.
Glenn, who gave evidence to the committee on Tuesday, said he was certain that it was Peters who approached him for money to help pay for the electoral petition in Tauranga.
Clark had said she would await Peters' appearance at the committee before deciding on his future as foreign minister.
In a statement on Thursday morning, Clark said senior colleagues on Parliament's privileges committee have advised her that the issues before the committee remain unresolved.
Clark said that therefore she had "no further statement to make about this matter today," and that "like all other observers I await further developments."
Clark said Peters' often belligerent behavior during this whole affair makes him a difficult person to insist on due process for, but any reasonable person would agree it is fair to do so.
Clark later defended her decision not to make a decision on Peters' future on Thursday.
"Obviously there was a lot of debate around whether Mr. Peters would mount any sort of defense which would give people pause for thought last night.
"The general consensus seemed to be that he raised enough issues for there to be no premature action today."
Source:Xinhua
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