Ecuador could hold early legislative and presidential elections on August 20, the electoral court said on Thursday, a day after the president Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree and advance the elections scheduled for 2025.
Lasso on Wednesday invoked the so-called “cross death” of the Constitution, which allows the president to call early elections for both his office and the assembly under certain circumstances, even if the actions of the Legislature are blocking the functioning of the government.
The embattled leader cited a serious political crisis and internal turmoil in Ecuador as reasons for taking the move, amid a political trial by opposition politicians who accused him of ignoring warnings of embezzlement related to a contract at the state oil transport company Flopec.
Lasso has denied the allegations and has said the contract was signed before he took office in May 2021.
The president will remain in office and rule by decree until his successor and a new legislature are elected, in accordance with the Ecuadorian Constitution.
The president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, told the local channel Teleamazon that the vote would be set for Sunday, August 20, according to a preliminary schedule and in accordance with local laws, adding that the date must be approved by the full court.
If there is a second round to elect the president, it could be held on October 15, Atamaint said.
Assembly asks to be reinstated by constitutional order
Opposition politicians hope that the Constitutional Court, Ecuador’s highest court, will quickly rule to block Lasso’s dissolution, which they have described as illegal.
Lawmakers in the dissolved National Assembly said they will respect the court’s decision, even if it upholds the president’s actions.
“There is a fairly high probability that the decree will be declared unconstitutional and that the Assembly will return to its functions and return to impeachment (of Lasso),” said opposition politician Esteban Torres.
Those elected in the early elections would only be in office until the regular elections are held in 2025.
The former head of the ceased Assembly, Virgilio Saquicela, explained Thursday to The Associated Press that he filed a personal lawsuit before that court arguing that the decree with which Lasso dissolved the Assembly is not consistent since there was no social unrest in the country.
Lasso dissolved the Assembly the day before when it was filing a political trial against him for alleged embezzlement of public funds. The decision was based on an article of the constitution that gives the president the power to dissolve the Legislature once for three reasons: when the Assembly has assumed functions that do not correspond to it, for obstruction of the national development plan or for serious political crisis and internal commotion.
“We require, we demand an immediate pronouncement from the Constitutional Court,” said Saquicela, who asked the court to rule within a maximum period of two days. He, in turn, maintained that two other lawsuits were filed: one by the Christian Social Party (PSC) and another by the Pachakutik indigenous force.
IN PHOTOS: Military and police officers continue to guard the Ecuadorian government palace
From the moment the decision to dissolve the National Assembly became known, President Guillermo Lasso has had the support of the Military Forces.
But the Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, argued at a press conference that the decree of dissolution of the Assembly is “up to the judgment, criteria, discretion and justification of the head of state” and that it does not require the approval of any body.
The lawyer and electoral analyst Medardo Oleas explained to AP that when the electoral period is declared open, the highest authority will be the National Electoral Council and in accordance with the constitutional norm “no authority may interfere in the carrying out of the process.” He added that if the Constitutional Court interfered with any ruling, its members “could be removed.”
Lasso, a 67-year-old former right-wing banker, assumed power in May 2021 for a four-year term and from the start of his term he had to face strong legislative opposition led by a majority of the Union for Hope party, akin to the Former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017).
[Con información de Reuters y AP]
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