The motion by the National Assembly to impeach Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has been reviewed by that institution’s Legislative Administration Council (CAL) and referred to the Constitutional Court, which will assess its legality.
Five Council Members voted in favor and two abstained, allowing the motion to pass by a majority. CAL accepted the impeachment motion against Lasso, who was charged with alleged corruption of public companies on racketeering and embezzlement charges.
Now the Constitutional Court must decide whether the National Assembly’s motion is compatible with the law and the Ecuadorian Magna Carta.
According to opposition lawmaker Darwin Pereira, the court will have six days to rule on the application and grant it the “admissibility” of the procedure submitted by the CAL. If the answer is affirmative, the Assembly will proceed with the impeachment process.
Pereira assured that this is only a step, since if the process is approved by the court, the filter of the assembly’s oversight committee is still missing for the debate to take place in plenary.
Lawmakers from Ecuador’s National Assembly attend a session to discuss a report recommending the opening of impeachment proceedings against President Guillermo Lasso March 4, 2023 in Quito, Ecuador. Portal – Karen Toro
For her part, pro-government MP Nathalia Arias expressed doubts about the processing of the submitted application. He also said he hoped the Constitutional Court would be able to give an account of due process.
Arias claims that in controlling the congregation “due process must be ensured from start to finish.” Otherwise, he stressed, the process could be suspended “in nullity” at any time.
Lasso’s alleged ties to the Grand Godfather case
Several opposition groups, which form the majority in the assembly, called for Lasso to be brought to justice on the basis of a report by a legislative commission investigating the well-known “Encuentro” or “Gran Padrino” case.
The digital medium “La Posta” brought to light the controversial audios in which businessman Danilo Carrera, Lasso’s brother-in-law, appeared. This revealed a plot of corruption in hiring and appointments in state-owned companies.
The same audios contained another person close to the ruling party, businessman Rubén Cherres, who was linked to a 2021 investigation into alleged links to drug trafficking.
The commission of inquiry recommended that the entire assembly demand explanations from Lasso for the alleged corruption network.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso attends a news conference with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves (not pictured) at the Rafael Ángel Calderon Guardia Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica March 1, 2023 Portal – MAYELA LOPEZ
The impeachment request is supported by paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 129 of the Constitution, which contemplates impeaching the President for crimes “against the security of the state” or for “concussion, bribery, embezzlement or illicit enrichment.”
Viviana Veloz, the MP who tabled the motion before the assembly, had reiterated: “We brought this impeachment case because the facts, the circumstances and the behavior of the President are consistent with the crimes of extortion and embezzlement in the public companies of Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet (Flopec) and Coordinating Company of Public Enterprises (Emco)”.
The Lasso administration criticized the report when it was released by the commission, which is made up of the majority of the opposition, saying it was a “tome” without a “head and tail”.
The Lasso government is facing this process at a difficult time. He recently lost the municipal elections left to Correísmo and was defeated in a referendum sponsored by the President himself.
In June 2022, Lasso had dodged an impeachment motion in the National Assembly because the number of votes was insufficient. This event came amid the indigenous protests that paralyzed the country for 18 days.
with EFE