Ecuador’s largest indigenous organization asked the country’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday to give the green light to the impeachment hearings against President Guillermo Lassofurther increasing the pressure on the South American leader, who faces accusations of corruption.
Constitutional Court judges are preparing their decision following a request by a group of opposition lawmakers to start impeachment hearings against Lasso, a conservative ruler.
Most legislators earlier this month backed a report accusing Lasso of connections to possible crimes against the public administration, amid investigations by the attorney general’s office into alleged bribery at state-owned companies.
A favorable decision by the Constitutional Court at the request of the opposition could increase the possibility that Lasso will dissolve the National Assembly and call early general elections.
“We hope that the Constitutional Court does not expect the people, the citizens to take to the streets and this will generate a greater reaction,” said the president of CONAIE, Leonidas Iza, after a march together with other groups in Quito.
“We ask that they really be able to act in law,” he added.
The Government has rejected the opposition’s request, arguing that it lacks political and legal elements, and has said that it seeks to destabilize its administration of almost two years.
If the Constitutional Court admits impeachment, opponents need 92 votes to censure or remove Lasso in a final vote in the 137-member National Assembly.
Lasso has repeatedly clashed with the National Assembly, where he does not enjoy a majority, and some lawmakers tried to oust him last year during protests by indigenous organizations.
The Government trusts the seriousness of the Constitutional Court, the Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, told a local media outlet, adding that Lasso will respect any decision made by the judges.
“The figure of the dissolution of the Assembly and call for early general elections is a tool that appears in the Constitution, it is absolutely legal,” added Cucalón.
“The president is the one who has to assess or not that situation,” he said.
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