Part of Lasso’s defense will be the presentation of a report from the State Comptroller General’s Office that the alleged irregular acts in FLOPEC were committed between 2018 and 2020, before he was sworn into office.
The Constitutional Court admitted, on March 29, 2023, the accusation of impeachment against the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso related to the alleged crime of embezzlement (arbitrarily disposing of public funds) in the contracts of the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet ( FLOPEC).
After the Court’s ruling, these are the nine obstacles that Lasso must overcome in the Assembly:
1. The General Secretariat of the Constitutional Court will return the trial file to the National Assembly.
2. Within a period of three days, Virgilio Saquicela, President of the Parliament will notify the Legislative Administration Council (CAL), and will order the General Secretariat to forward it to the Oversight Commission where the substantiation process will begin.
3. This table, where new tests can be incorporated, has 30 days to submit a report to CAL, that he should recommend or not the prosecution to the head of state. Within this period, the Oversight Commission will notify the President of the Republic of its decision so that he can exercise his right to defense.
4.This is how the Oversight Commission is made up: Fernando Villavicencio, Luis Segovia, Marco Troya, Pedro Velasco (independent) Gabriela Molina, Comps Córdova, Roberto Cuero (ONES), Ana Belén Cordero (PSC), Paul Muentes (PSC).
5. The president of the Assembly has ten days to deliver the report of the Oversight Commission to the 137 legislators, and convene a plenary session to start the trial.
6. In the plenary session of the Assembly, the President of the Republic will have three hours to defend himself against the accusation.
7. In the same session, the interpellants will have two hours for the accusation. Then, each party may exercise their right to reply for one hour.
8. Subsequently, the debate will begin in plenary, where the 137 assembly members will be able to intervene for ten minutes. For the approval of the motion of censure, it is required 92 votes.
9. The 92 votes would come from the UNES block (47), from the Christian Social Party (16), Pachakutik (20), dissidents from the Democratic Left (5), and Independents (6).
ANOTHER CHANCE
In the middle of the interpellation process, the president could invoke the constitutional resource of the “cross death” (early elections).
Article 148 of the Constitution states that the President of the Republic may dissolve the Assembly when, in his opinion, it has assumed functions that are not constitutionally incumbent upon it, following a favorable ruling from the Constitutional Court, or if it repeatedly obstructs the execution of the Constitution. National Development Plan, or due to a serious political crisis or internal commotion.
This power may be exercised only once in the first three years of his mandate.
Within a maximum period of seven days after the publication of the dissolution decree, the National Electoral Council will convene for the same date legislative and presidential elections for the rest of the respective periods.
Until the installation of the Assembly, the President may -for six months- following a favorable opinion from the Constitutional Court, issue decree-laws of economic urgency that may be approved or repealed by the legislative body.
In a scenario of eventual removal of the president, the Constitution establishes the line of presidential succession.
The second inset of Article 146 of the Constitution says that in the event that the President (Guillermo Lasso) has to leave office permanently, the Vice President (Alfredo Borrero) will exercise his functions for the time remaining to complete the corresponding presidential term. (SC)
RELATED NOTE
Guillermo Lasso: “Assembly members try to confuse the alleged commission of crimes” – Diario La Hora