The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the National Assembly by decree on Wednesday, advancing the legislative and presidential elections, one day after presenting his defense before the camera in a political trial against him.
Lasso denies allegations that he turned a blind eye to alleged embezzlement related to a contract at the state-owned oil transportation company Flopec, arguing that his administration made profitable changes to the deal, which was signed years before he took office. The charge.
With the decision, the Ecuadorian president ends the impeachment trial and will be able to rule for up to six months by decree with the control of the Constitutional Court.
In a radio and television channel, Lasso assured that “all the efforts of the Legislative Branch are focused on destabilizing the government.”
Lasso must now call presidential and legislative elections. The winners of these elections will complete the current presidential and legislative term that ends in May 2025.
The president argued that the dissolution of the Assembly “is a democratic decision not only because it is constitutional but because it returns to the Ecuadorian people the power to decide their future in the next elections.”
“This is the best possible decision, which opens the way for us to regain hope, tranquility,” he added, and said that “this is a new moment for optimism.”
Ecuador’s electoral court must now decide the date of the new elections within seven days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
In a subsequent press conference, the head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, General Nelson Proaño, expressed his support for the order constituted in an apparent approval of the president’s decision.
In turn, he called on Ecuadorians to maintain a climate of respect for the law and warned that the rupture of the constitutional order through violence will not be allowed and that, in that case, the Armed Forces and the police will act “firmly.” ” to protect the life, rights and guarantees of Ecuadorians.
[Con información de AP y Reuters]
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