The Communication Secretariat of the National Government has informed, on the night of this Wednesday, March 29, 2023, that the Presidency respects the admissibility ruling of the Constitutional Court that allows the impeachment against the president, despite not agreeing with that decision.
The statement, released on Twitter shortly after 10:00 p.m., stresses that the decision “in no way validates the arguments raised by the legislature against the President.”
“The Assembly’s approach never had and will never have any legal or political support,” says the statement from the Ministry of Communication. «The inconsistencies in the arguments of this trial will not end the vision of serving Ecuadorians.”.
Admissibility
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador gave the green light for the National Assembly (Parliament) to carry out a political trial of censorship against the president of the country, Guillermo Lasso, whom the opposition accuses of embezzlement.
With six votes from the nine judges that make up the highest constitutional control body in the country, the Court presented a favorable report of “admissibility” to the political trial that the National Assembly (Parliament) is processing against the head of state.
The Constitutional Court reported that the report was approved, although it did not admit the cause of “concussion”, a crime for which the president was also accused by the opposition from the Assembly.
“In the analysis of the procedure, it was found that the application submitted and the procedure followed up to here in the National Assembly, the principles of political legitimacy and due process have been respected,” the Court specified in its ruling.
The high court also established a “lack of prolixity in the activation” of the figure of impeachment, which, however, does not influence the ruling.
“This Court urges the institutions involved in the impeachment trial to always act within the canons provided for in the Constitution and the Rule of Law,” he added.
With this ruling, the process will continue in the Legislative Assembly, which will send the report to the Political Oversight and Control Commission, which must prepare a report to be discussed by the plenary session of Parliament.
92 votes for no confidence
The censure of the head of state can only be applied if the Assembly, made up of 137 legislators, obtains a qualified majority of a minimum of 92 votes, equivalent to two thirds of the chamber, and if it does not obtain them, the process will be archived.
In addition, the legislative action may include a request for the Prosecutor’s Office and other State control agencies to investigate the complaints against the president and include them in a possible instruction of the Public Ministry.
The ruling of the Constitutional Court was given within the period established by the regulations and after last Monday it returned to raffle among its members the judge rapporteur of the case, since a first proposal for a ruling did not reach the six required votes.
Judge Richard Ortiz replaced Teresa Nuques as speaker, whose presentation did not receive enough votes, and constitutional judge Ali Lozada was also delegated to prepare the new draft resolution that was approved tonight.