'World's humblest president' doesn't get the obsession with him

This weekend the people of Uruguay bid farewell to president Jose "Pepe" Mujica, who stepped down after five years in power.

He has variously been described as the world's poorest or most humble president after shunning the perks of office and donating the vast majority of his presidential salary to charity.

The 79-year-old former guerrilla leader handed over the reins of power by expressing continued disbelief at the fascination with his relatively austere lifestyle, and material wealth itself.

He told BBC News:

This world is crazy, crazy. People are amazed by normal things and that obsession worries me.

All I do is live like the majority of my people, not the minority. I'm living a normal life and Italian, Spanish leaders should also live as their people do. They shouldn't be aspiring to or copying a rich minority.

More: [8 reasons why we'll miss Jose Mujica, Uruguay's maverick president]1