[Amy]

A Mexican MP has been given time off to be a contestant in the country's version of Big Brother.

Jorge Kahwagi has been given special indefinite leave by congress to appear on the show.

It has caused a scandal in Mexico where rival politicians say it is an abuse of his position.

Senator Jesus Ortega told Terra Populares online: "It is inadmissible that a person gets elected and then goes on to stain the image of the public power."

But Mr Kahwagi, a Green Party MP who is also both a controversial ecologist and a boxer, is unrepentant.

His spokesman said he agreed to take part in the show because he wanted to understand the Big Brother phenomenon.

The MP also felt Mexican society needed new ways of communicating with its public figures

Article Ananova