The National Assembly of Ecuador temporarily suspended Sunday morning one session in which a request for the impeachment of the president was debatedGuillermo Lasso, after 14 days of protests and indigenous strike.
The president of the chamber, Virgilio Saquicela, declared a break in deliberations after almost eight hours of session. The Executive put an end to the state of exception declared in six provinces of the country when the parliamentary debate began after a rapprochement with the dissatisfied.
The parliament planned to resume the debate on Sunday afternoon so that another 40 assembly members who had requested it could intervene. 92 votes are required to remove the president, in a process initiated by the opposition bloc Union for Hope (Unes) according to article 130 of the Constitution.
The session began in the midst of a surprising announcement by the legal adviser to the Presidency of the Republic, Fabián Pozo, who, during his speech on behalf of the President, announced the repeal of Decree 459 and terminated the state of emergency that argued a “serious internal commotion”.
The measure was assumed as a political strategy of the regime, since the evidence presented by the Unes movement to support its request for presidential dismissal was executive decrees 455 and 459, both non-subsistent.
“Don’t pretend that you are making fun of the National Assembly, you are making fun of the Ecuadorian people with your last-minute decrees,” said Johana Moreira, of the Democratic Left, who urged President Lasso to issue a decree that responds to the demands of the indigenous sector.
In her turn, the assembly member of the Pachakutik political movement, Guadalupe Llori, rejected the request for dismissal, but urged the president to “accept lower fuel prices”as requested by indigenous and social organizations.
“Democracy is great when it governs for everyone, if it doesn’t govern for everyone, democracy doesn’t work. President, rectify (…) great men learn to listen,” said the assemblyman of the right-wing Social Christian Party.
Meanwhile, through an official statement, the presidency assured that with the termination of the state of emergency, “the willingness to guarantee the generation of spaces for peace is ratified, in which Ecuadorians can gradually resume their activities.”
Although there was a first rapprochement between the government and the largest indigenous organization in Ecuador with a view to starting a dialogue after 14 days of the national strike, the leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), said on Saturday night that the unemployment will continue until reaching the 10 points of your request documentyes
“There has been no commitment, but simply the decision of CONAIE (…) to consult its bases the designation of a commission to start this dialogue,” said Saquicela, promoter of the meeting. To do this, “we have asked that tensions be lowered, that confrontations be lowered while this dialogue takes place and a solution is found,” he said.
At the Central University, in the north center of the capital, the president of CONAIE, Leonidas Iza, said on Saturday that “the fight is one of resistance.” “Instead of making us more afraid, rather they have raised our rebellion, our dignity,” he sentenced.
In the vicinity of El Arbolito park, protesters gathered while waiting for what would happen in the legislative chamber.
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In a statement, the Organization of the Nations urged all political and social actors in Ecuador to “urgently initiate a meaningful dialogue in good faith.” The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also called for an inclusive dialogue “attending to the demands of groups that have historically been in a situation of vulnerability and with full respect for human rights,” while the civil organization Alliance for Human Rights will make an observation of the situation to demand “the right to life, free protest and all social rights be guaranteed”.
So far, the National Police has recognized four deaths and hundreds of injuries from both protesters and police and military.
Lasso, a former right-wing banker, has been in power for just over a year after defeating Correismo candidate Andrés Arauz in 2021.
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