Legislative pressure —from an Assembly with an opposition majority— was able against the conservative president Guillermo Lasso, who, faced with the possibility of being removed from office, went to the “crusader death” this Wednesday. a constitutional decree that allows him to dissolve the Legislative, but that also implies the holding of early general elections.
(Also: When and how will the early elections be in Ecuador after the ‘cross death’?)
The unpopular president, accused by leftist congressmen of alleged corruption in oil transportation contracts, ordered “the dissolution of the National Assembly due to a serious political crisis and internal commotion,” according to the document released by the Presidency.
Amid rising violence linked to drug trafficking and discontent over the cost of living, the decision could mean the end of the right-wing government and marks an opportunity for the left to regain strength with the former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), fugitive in Europe and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption, as leader of the opposition.
(You can read: Duque and other former presidents support Lasso’s decision to dissolve Congress in Ecuador)
Lasso, who had escaped a motion of no confidence of the same characteristics last June by only 12 votes, You will be able to run in the new elections that will determine the political forces to complete the 2021-2025 period.
However, for the professor of political science at the San Francisco de Quito University, Pablo Medina, due to the low popularity he has at the moment (around 15 percent) “it is unlikely that Lasso will win.”
(Keep reading: The mechanism with which they seek to overturn Lasso’s decree that dissolved the Ecuadorian Congress)
“However, given the few chances he had of avoiding being removed, the president preferred to also drag the opposition Assembly and give himself an air of being able to govern without a Congress that he insistently accuses of blocking him in economic matters,” added the academic.
The president preferred to also drag the opposition Assembly and give himself an air of being able to govern without a Congress that he insistently accuses of blocking him in economic matters.
Until the installation of the new National Assembly —the Constitution establishes that within a maximum period of seven days after the publication of the decree of dissolution, legislative and presidential elections will be called— Lasso will be able to govern by issuing laws of economic urgency, as long as they have the approval of the Constitutional Court.
(In context: President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, signs ‘cross death’ and dissolves the Assembly)
“It is a democratic decision, not only because it is constitutional but because it gives the Ecuadorian people back the possibility of deciding,” said Lasso, who had the support of the military and police forces.
The reactions did not wait, and while former President Correa assured that the application of the cross death in the middle of the censorship impeachment trial was illegal, the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), Leonidas Iza, spoke of a “self-coup” of State.
Correísmo and the conservative Social Christian Party (PSC), the main promoters of the political trial, rejected the existence of a serious political and internal crisis and questioned the legitimacy of Lasso’s movement, which they accused of using “cross death” to avoid a likely removal.
(We recommend: What is the ‘cross death’ decreed in Ecuador and why are elections called?)
In this sense, the PSC has already filed a claim of unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Court, which at the time authorized the opening of the impeachment trial for the crime of embezzlement (embezzlement), but not for the crime of embezzlement, the most mediatic case involving a alleged corruption plot in public companies where businessman Danilo Carrera, Lasso’s brother-in-law, appeared.
“In my opinion, it seems very difficult for the Constitutional Court to determine a precautionary measure that suspends the effect of cross death. But, in politics, anything can happen and it is natural that the assembly members try to activate these judicial resources to be able to continue with the impeachment trial”, Medina comments in this regard.
(You can read: “Lo de Lasso is illegal”: Rafael Correa reacts to the dissolution of the Assembly in Ecuador)
Ecuador gained a reputation for being ungovernable after forcing the departure of three presidents between 1997 and 2005 through protestsuntil the assumption of Correa.
On February 5, the Lasso government lost the referendum proposed to apply reforms to the Constitution, while in parallel Correa’s party was the winner of the local elections. That result left Lasso at his weakest moment in his almost two-year term and was used by the opposition to launch the impeachment trial.
(Also read: Former presidential candidate of Ecuador will denounce the attorney general of Colombia)
Although general elections will be held within a period of about six months, the Conaie will decide whether to take to the streets to protest against the “cross death” as it had anticipated if this scenario occurred. Faced with these possible protests, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, warned this Wednesday that the Police will only act “if the established order is affected” and opined that Ecuadorians should abide by the provision as it is a measure protected by the Constitution and issued by a legitimate authority.
ANA LUCIA ROMAN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
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