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Ecuador’s government rejects Lasso’s impeachment recommendation

This content was published on March 4, 2023 – 21:24 March 4, 2023 – 21:24

Quito, March 4th (EFE).- Ecuadorian Government Minister Henry Cucalón regretted this Saturday that the National Assembly “has once again failed the country” by accepting the report of the Opportunity Commission, since “this document has no legal validity, it is not binding and it is an order of patches and corrections,” he said.

The announcement came through a statement released shortly after the Assembly approved a report by a commission investigating alleged acts of corruption involving circles around leader Guillermo Lasso, which recommended the president’s impeachment for censorship.

The official doubted “that the report left out – at whim – characters that should be investigated: ‘A real assault on reason and common sense,'” he said, according to the government ministry.

Cucalón stressed that the government “never questioned the powers of political control that the national parliament has constitutionally”.

However, he denied that on this occasion “an attempt is being made to fabricate a fable to try to initiate a political process against the President of the Republic; since it is not an act of control but an obvious destabilization”. .

He also accused “that, in view of the criticism and mockery of public opinion, they first made treason as a reason and then took it back”.

Then, in paragraph 2 of Article 129 of the Constitution, they proposed a cease and desist commission, which they described as “dante from a legal point of view and deviant from a political point of view”, adding that “like all good fiction, it has a morality built on untruths , crumbles. They have built a case of lying cards: one is removed and everything collapses”.

Cucalón felt the report “won’t do anything,” so he pointed out that certain sectors that recognized this “have come up with ideas like explaining Lasso’s mental incapacity or threatening violence in the streets,” he says . the writing.

“It turned out that certain assembly members never cared about fighting corruption, it was just letterhead for persecution and instability, and this report is living proof of that,” Cucalón said.

He pointed out that the report contains no evidence linking Lasso to what he is accused of, so “there is no merit whatsoever for a trial of this nature,” he noted.

“This unfortunate farce will not detract from the work of the government, which continues to work for the well-being of our country. Today we find ourselves between democratic stability and insecurity. Ecuadorians prefer the stability that allows us to work, engage and move forward in peace,” he concluded.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

A total of 104 of the 125 Assembly members present at this Saturday’s session approved the report, 18 voted against and 3 abstained at the session, the sole subject of which was the debate on the report of the Special Commission on Truth, Justice and the Fight Against Corruption in the case of “Encuentro”, also known as “The Great Godfather”.

The vote paved the way for a lawmaker to formally table the impeachment motion, which requires the support of at least 46 lawmakers.

Last Wednesday, the commission recommended, by six votes in favor of the motion and one against, that the plenary session of the National Assembly (Parliament) question Lasso on the alleged corruption acts being investigated.

These acts revolve around an alleged corruption conspiracy in public companies involving businessmen Danilo Carrera, the President’s brother-in-law, and Rubén Cherres, a man close to the ruling party who has also been the subject of a police investigation over his alleged relationship with a network of the drug trafficking that has been archived.

The decision was based on paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 129 of the Constitution, on the possibility of a political trial against the President for crimes “against the security of the state” or for “convulsion, bribery, embezzlement (embezzlement) or illicit enrichment”.

This article also states that “to initiate the political process, the admissibility decision of the Constitutional Court is required, but no prior criminal prosecution is required”. EFE

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