This Thursday, March 16, 2023, the signatures for the request for the impeachment of the president were collected Guillermo Lasso. In the afternoon the document was delivered and at night the Presidency of the Assembly convened the Legislative Administration Council (CAL) for a meeting on Friday the 17th, to discuss the issue.
The request for prosecution was delivered to the National Assembly by legislators Viviana Veloz (UNES), Mireya Pazmiño (Pachakutik), assembly members Rodrigo Fajardo (ID) and Pedro Zapata (PSC). The document had 59 supporting signatures.
The UNES blocks and the PSC based the request on numeral 2 of article 129 of the Constitution, which recommends prosecution for “crimes of concussion, bribery, embezzlement or illicit enrichment.” The legislators assured that the document presented contains 25 pieces of evidence against the President.
Once the document is reviewed by the CAL, and if it is approved, the application will go to the Constitutional Court of Ecuadorbody that must pronounce in six days.
After that there are two scenarios. If the Court denies the request, it will be archived, but if it is accepted, the president of the Assembly, within a maximum of three days, must notify the CAL, which must send it to the Control Commission. This legislative table has a period of 30 days to present its report, in which it recommends or not impeachment in plenary.
With the report, the President of the Legislature has up to five days to convene the Plenary for political prosecution. For the censure of the President of the Republic, 92 votes are required and, from the presentation of the impeachment request, the process can take more than 30 days.