The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, has invoked on Wednesday what is known as ‘cross death’, a constitutional formula that implies the dissolution of the National Assembly and the call for both legislative and presidential elections, arguing that there is a “serious political crisis”. derived from the impeachment trial against him.
Less than 24 hours after the start of the political trial, Lasso has signed a decree with which he had previously threatened and that obliges the National Electoral Council (CNE) to set the date of new elections — “immediately”, he has claimed– . Ecuadorians will be called to the polls again to designate deputies and president for the remaining period of their respective mandates.
Lasso has affirmed that being president, “an honor without comparison”, implies “taking the appropriate and necessary decisions that each historical moment demands”. “Today is a day in which I have an obligation to respond to the political crisis that Ecuador has trapped”, he declared in a speech to the nation.
The president considers that Parliament, dominated by the opposition, “has as a political project the destabilization of the Government, democracy and the State.” As of today, he has pointed out, “it is not possible to advance” in Ecuador due to the activity of an Assembly that does not carry out “monitoring” tasks but rather limits itself to “obstruction”.
The opposition, he has pointed out, wants to “usurp” all the powers of the State, driven by a “superhuman rancor”, in the words of the president. “They have been unable to find any evidence against me because there is nothing to find, absolutely nothing,” he stated during his speech, in which he once again defended his innocence.
The trial is based on an accusation for money laundering that derives from an agreement signed by the public company Flopec and that, according to the Comptroller’s Office, caused the country a loss of some 6.1 million dollars. The contract in question is still in force, although it was signed in 2020, during the Government of Lenín Moreno.
“I admit mistakes in my administration, but I am a democrat and I have tried to ensure that the solutions are always constitutional and legal,” Lasso added.
The president, who understands that the “majority aspiration” of the citizenry is to put an end to an “irrational and useless confrontation”, has explained that calling elections gives Ecuadorians back “the power to decide their future”. The path is open to “regain hope”, he added.
The measure leaves room for the Government to approve decrees of economic urgency and Lasso has already confirmed the issuance of one that contemplates a tax cut, already “without blockades” and now pending review by the Constitutional Court.
Decree
News in development…