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With the vote in favor of six judges, the highest body of constitutional justice in Ecuador gave the green light to the hearings for the political trial of censorship of the current president of the country. Lasso is accused by the opposition of embezzlement of public funds and corruption. Meanwhile, the president reacted quickly to the body’s new pronouncement, saying that he will defend himself and that he will not use the powers granted to him by the constitution to call new elections.
“This Court exhorts the institutions involved in the political trial to always act within the canons provided for in the Constitution and the Rule of Law,” the Court noted on its ruling.
The judicial institution admitted the charges of embezzlement and corruption for the political trial, however, he dismissed the “concussion” charges —abuse of power— and the latter are not going to be appropriate in the judgment of censorship.
Lasso is accused by 59 opposition parliamentarians, who formally requested the trial in mid-March. The bench that requested the legal process against the president is led by members of the party of the former Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa.
Lasso will come to his defense
President Guillermo Lasso will defend himself against the accusations and will be present at the impeachment trial of censorship, as announced by the Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, after the commotion caused by the Court’s decision.
“The decision he has made is to go, show his face, represent the Government and the Ecuadorians to defend his Presidency from this bad accusation (…) to distort this process of impeachment that has no foundation,” said the incumbent. portfolio.
In this case, Lasso could draw up a constitutional charter called a “crusader charter”, which would give him the power to dissolve the Assembly, call early general elections and govern by decree, but said action has been ruled out by the Government.
The minister also said that they have enough reasons to attend the trial and prove Lasso’s innocence.
The Government accepts the ruling, but rejects the impeachment
Through a statement on Twitter, the government of Guillermo Lasso expressed its rejection of the Court’s decision after endorsing the censorship trial against the Ecuadorian head of state.
“Despite the fact that we do not agree with the decision of the Constitutional Court, we respect the opinion of admissibility on the political trial,” said the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency in the statement.
In addition, he added that “the Assembly’s approach never had and will never have any legal or political support.” The affirmation is based on a part of the Court’s ruling, which indicates the “lack of prolixity” in the activation of the political trial by the parliamentarians, although the above did not influence the sentence.
The former president of the country, Rafael Correa, also reacted to the decision of the Court. In a post on Twitter, the former Ecuadorian president celebrated the agency’s ruling and predicted Lasso’s departure from the presidential chair.
A brother-in-law of the president sprinkles his name
Minister Cucalón assured that the accusation that today has Lasso on the ropes is an alleged case of corruption, which, according to him, dates back to the period of the previous president, Lenín Moreno, who was in command between 2017 and 2021.
The accusation includes the name of businessman Danilo Correa, brother-in-law of President Lasso and who faces charges of corruption for contracts with the public energy company ‘Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana’.
The ruling party and correísmo live in constant tension
Since his presidential term began, Lasso has had a tense relationship with the opposition, which appears to have worsened.
On February 5, the Andean country went to the polls, in which the president lost a referendum that he promoted to reform the Constitution and correísmo was the great winner of the local elections.
Forces linked to correísmo lead the opposition in the National Assembly, occupying the majority of the 137 assembly members that make up the Ecuadorian parliamentary group.
However, in June of last year, Lasso was saved from a similar situation, which was called for by the opposition in the midst of protests led by the indigenous movement against the economic policy of his government.
Turbulent future for Guillermo Lasso
Parliamentary opposition needs 92 votes —of the 137 members of the National Assembly-— to remove Lasso from power, should the proceedings reach the final stages.
However, the Ecuadorian constitution gives the head of the Executive Power an “escape valve” to the motion of no confidence, since it allows Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early elections, although his position would also have to be subject to of new elections.
Some voices believe that, with the Court’s decision, the possibility of Lasso calling new elections is closer.
Although the stages of his trial are still early, the Constitutional Court had never endorsed a political trial of an active president, so this unprecedented ruling generates great instability in the current government.
With Reuters and EFE
