The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso. PRESIDENCIA DE ECUADOR (PRÄSIDENCIA DE ECUADOR)
With six votes in favour, the plenary session of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador has approved the motion to impeach President Guillermo Lasso for the alleged crime of embezzlement. With the panel’s endorsement, the National Assembly begins the process of prosecuting the president, which could lead to a possible dismissal. In a statement, the Court stated that the procedure in the National Assembly to date “respected the principles of political legitimacy and due process”.
In the verdict, the majority of the judges decided not to admit the two allegations of the alleged extortion offense and to give room only to the embezzlement. The Court stated that for the Opinion they analyzed both the procedure and the content of the application “to ensure the balance of powers between the executive and the legislature”, although it draws the attention of the applicants and the National Assembly to “the deficiency of prolixity in activating this constitutional figure”.
The majority MPs of the UNES party, Social Cristiano and Izquierda Democrática, accuse him of being politically responsible for a system of corruption in public companies. Also, to use his position as president to protect some of those involved, including his brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera. President Lasso has denied such claims, calling the Assembly’s intention to remove him a second time “a parliamentary coup d’état,” as he told the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo.
The ruling party’s lawmakers’ bloc has announced that President Lasso will defend himself in court, suggesting the President would not activate so-called cross-death; that is, to dissolve the congregation. The Ecuadorian Constitution grants the President this opportunity at any time during the first three years of government, and he can do so for three reasons. First, the Assembly has assumed powers that are not its own; the second is due to a serious crisis or internal unrest; and the third is the obstruction of the President’s proposed development plan. Only in the first case does the Constitutional Court have to be consulted. If the president invokes the death cross, he won’t be able to finish school until 2025, elections must be called immediately, and he will rule with executive decrees for six months until new authorities are appointed.
The High Court decision returns the document to the National Assembly pending the Commission of Inquiry, which has a maximum of 45 days to hear the evidence in support of the alleged violation and where the President can present the exculpatory evidence. It takes 92 votes out of the 137 MPs to censure and sack the President.
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