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A crucial week begins for the survival of the government of the president of Ecuador William Lasso, who in the next few days could be dismissed by the National Assembly. However, the president has an ace up his sleeve: he could activate a constitutional resource that allows him to dissolve the Legislative: cross death.
The first setback was dealt by the National Assembly -dominated by the opposition- on Sunday, when re-elected Virgilio Saquicela as president by the vote of more than two thirds of the 137 legislators despite the efforts of the Executive in recent weeks to add assembly members to its hosts.
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Saquicela decided that the final phase of the political trial of Lasso begins on Tuesday with the appearance of the president before the plenary session Legislativewhere The assembly members will have two hours to support the accusation of embezzlement of public funds after which Lasso he will have the same amount of time to defend himself. Then both parties will have an additional hour for possible replicas.
At the end of that initial process, Lasso will withdraw from the Assembly and a debate will begin in which each of its 137 members will be able to speak for 10 minutes.
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According to estimates by the same legislators, Next Saturday the final session will be held to determine the fate of Lasso. The president has denied the accusation of embezzlement of public funds that weighs against him and that, until now, has not been proven by the accusers either.
The opposition assemblywoman Yesenia Guamani told the Teleamazonas television network that “You cannot talk about whether or not there would be votes for the removal” and that this will begin to take shape after listening to the president in the Assembly.
But in the midst of the impeachment process, Lasso could at any time, according to the law, activate a constitutional remedy that allows him to dissolve the National Assembly without the approval of any state body. If he makes this decision, he could govern by decree for up to six months, with the control of the Constitutional Court, and at the same time he should call presidential and legislative elections.
The head of the pro-government bench, Juan Fernando Flores, told reporters that this resource “is a constitutional right that the president has, It’s in the constitution.” He anticipated that Lasso will arrive at the Assembly around noon on Tuesday possibly accompanied by his cabinet and other government officials.
Julio Echeverría, an analyst and professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, explained to The Associated Press that The president reached this point because he did not manage “a line of consensus building based on the country’s great objectives” and he executed an economic policy that prioritized the balance of fiscal accounts, sacrificing public investment and social programs.
This is the second time that Lasso has faced an impeachment process in the Assembly: the first was in mid-2021 when lawmakers accused him of internal commotion but they did not achieve the minimum of 92 votes required to remove him from office, after a violent indigenous strike that practically paralyzed the country for almost three weeks.
The closest antecedent of an Ecuadorian president dismissed by Congress is that of Abdala Bucaram (1996-1997), in February 1997, although in his case there was no impeachment but rather the congressmen declared him mentally incapacitated to govern without any medical or psychiatric report
Lassoa 67-year-old former right-wing banker, assumed power in May 2021 for a four-year term and from the beginning of his term he faced fierce legislative opposition that rejected his main government projects and permanently blocked his administration.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
