News Foot Cover Author: rebellious youth
Quito, 15 May. Ecuador kicks off this crucial week with President Guillermo Lasso’s political trial at the center of the National Assembly’s agenda, which will determine the future of the president and the country, when the head of parliament, Virgilio Sakisela, formally convened members of the assembly for this Tuesday to begin proceedings at 10:00 local time. time.
The presence of the ruler is planned, who will have the right to defend himself for three hours, and the prosecution must present evidence of the crime for which they are seeking the resignation of the head of the executive, according to Prensa Latina, and will be a member of Viviana’s assembly. Velos, from the bench of the Union for Hope (UNES), and Esteban Torres, from the Social Christian Party (PSC), who will present the arguments of the political process.
After the intervention of the interpellents and of Lasso himself, whose presence was confirmed by the Minister of the Government, Henri Coucalon, a debate between the legislators will begin, for which several days are expected, since each of the 137 members of the Assembly has the right to speak for ten minutes.
According to the established schedule, at the end of the speeches, the meeting will be adjourned, and after five days they will have to decide whether to approve the removal of the president or not.
According to the opposition, Lasso committed the alleged embezzlement after learning of alleged breaches in a contract between state-owned Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana (Flopec) and Amazonas Tanker and failing to take action to prevent further damage to the state.
Last Tuesday, 88 lawmakers voted in favor of holding an impeachment trial, just four votes short of the 92 needed to remove the chief executive from office, equivalent to two-thirds of the Assembly.
If enough numbers are reached to convict the President, Vice President Alfredo Borrero should take office for the remainder of the current period, that is, until 2025.
In June 2022, Lasso managed to escape a similar situation in the midst of a historic strike led by an indigenous movement, but then the opposition won 80 votes and failed to remove him from office through the so-called cross death.
Under the current conditions, it was the president who expressed the possibility of using the constitutional resource that allows the head of the executive branch to dissolve the Assembly, call a general election in six months and manage this period by his decree.
Although the UNES bench, which includes members of the Revolución Ciudadana movement from Correista, has declared its support for the death cross as a democratic way out of the crisis in the country, the re-elected Assembly President Sakisela reiterated that there is no reason to call this instrument out of the executive branch.
The fact that the opposition showed its weight on Sunday in the vote of seven parliamentary powers, where the ruling party was completely excluded, showed that there may be more votes than it takes to end Lasso’s term.
Will his hours in the palace of Carondelet be numbered? We will have to wait until the last moment, because negotiations will continue until the last minute, says the LP correspondent in Ecuador.
Source: Juventud Rebelde