Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Friday that his political movement will rebuild the country and address insecurity if it succeeds in early elections this yearadding that he hopes to get at least 50 seats in the National Assembly.
Early elections could take place on August 20 after President Guillermo Lasso, a former conservative banker, dissolved the National Assembly by decree on Wednesday to prevent an attempt by opposition politicians to remove him.
Those chosen in early elections will serve until the end of the current term in 2025, when the scheduled vote for president and lawmakers takes place.
“The important thing is that the government that arrives, at least ours, will be in transition to recover the country in 2025 with the election and then return to that path of development that we had from 2007 to 2017,” Correa said in a telephone interview with Reuters, in which he added that it is too soon to name a presidential candidate.
a court of Ecuador sentenced Correa to eight years in prison in 2020 for a bribery case.
Correa, who presided over Ecuador from 2007 to 2017 and has lived in Belgium since he left power, has denied the accusations and describes the case against him as one of political persecution.
His party, Revolución Ciudadana, had 47 seats in the National Assembly before Lasso dissolved it. The ex-assembly members of his group will appear in the new vote, Correa said.
“Less than what we get would be a failure,” Correa said of his hope of gaining 50 seats in the legislature, although he noted that securing a majority in the 137-seat National Assembly would be difficult.
Lasso chose to resort to ‘cross death’ – a constitutional quirk introduced in the Correa government – that allows the president to call elections for both his office and legislators under certain circumstances, even if the actions of the Legislature are blocking the functioning of the government.
The embattled Lasso, who has told international media he will not run in the upcoming elections, can now rule by decree, with economic laws subject to the approval of the Constitutional Court.
Any law issued by decree, including an earlier measure by Lasso to relax gun controls, would be targeted by Revolución Ciudadana politicians in the government or legislature, Correa said.
“All that must be repealed, they are barbaric,” he said.
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