With an election due by mid-November, and her Labour Party trailing the centre-right National Party in the polls, the last thing Helen Clark, New Zealand's prime minister, needed was a scandal. But on August 29th she had to accept the temporary resignation of Winston Peters, the foreign minister, and leader of her coalition partner, New Zealand First (nzf), while accusations against him are investigated.rnThe scandal hinges on donations to nzf that allegedly were not properly declared or were used for other purposes, including Mr Peters's legal bills. Most attention focuses on an anonymous donation in 2006 of NZ$100,000 ($70,000) made by Owen Glenn, an expatriate businessman.
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