Belarus PM sacked over corruption scam

MINSK: Belarus´s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday sacked his prime minister and other key members of government following a corruption scandal that saw top officials arrested.

Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov will be replaced by former development bank head Sergei Rumas, the president´s press office said in a statement. Several vice-premiers as well as the ministers for economy and industry will also lose their posts.

"I won´t name names, but in our government we had the following situation -- one programme would be announced and then another programme would be carried out," Lukashenko said in comments released by his press office.

"I´ve never allowed this and I never will! What we have promised the people -- with a government formed precisely with this programme in mind, we must follow this programme," he added. Over the summer a corruption scandal rocked the health service of the ex-Soviet nation. Authorities arrested dozens of top health officials, medics and drug company representatives on suspicion of siphoning off millions of dollars in state funding.