The President of the National Assembly (Parliament), Virgilio Saquicela, convened a virtual session of the CAL for this Friday afternoon to discuss whether the file presented against the President meets the established conditions.
If approved, the document would go to the Constitutional Court, a body that has six days to render an admissibility verdict, with an application that could bring forward the end of Lasso’s term.
After correcting the errors previously identified and in the middle of the questioning, MPs Viviana Veloz, Mireya Pazmiño, Rodrigo Fajardo and Pedro Zapata this Thursday submitted the official file with a request to impeach the President politically.
Other lawmakers, such as Johana Moreira of Izquierda Democrática, again questioned the presentation of the text, believing that this procedure falls outside the established time limit.
However, at its meeting today, the CAL will decide what to do with the petition.
Lasso reached this point after the scandal linking his brother-in-law Danilo Carrera and his government officials to an alleged corruption network in public companies and apparent links to drug trafficking, particularly the Albanian mafia.
While the government rejects the allegations, calling them attempts at destabilization, social organizations support Lasso’s ouster not only because of these crimes, but also because of state duties.
The various steps of the process could take around a month and a half in total, and in the end 92 votes out of a total of 137 MPs are required to remove the President.
In this case, no new elections would be called, but Vice President Alfredo Borrero would take office.
jha/avr