Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso announced his decision to dissolve the opposition-held congress as he stared down a vote to impeach him.
(Bloomberg) — Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso announced his decision to dissolve the opposition-held congress as he stared down a vote to impeach him.
“I have signed Executive Decree 741, with the objective of dissolving the National Assembly and requesting the electoral council to call elections,” Lasso said in a tweet Wednesday. “Ecuadoreans: this is the best decision to give a constitutional solution to the political crisis.”
Lasso made the announcement after 88 lawmakers on May 10 voted to continue the impeachment trial and the opposition kept control of the National Assembly in a midterm internal voting on May 14. Impeachment proceedings against him started on Tuesday.
Backers of self-exiled former President Rafael Correa, the conservative Social Christian Party and center-left parties Pachakutik and Democratic Left accused him of embezzlement for failing to cancel an oil shipping contract. Lasso denied the allegations, adding that under his watch, the state oil shipping firm last year made a record net profit.
The opposition needed 92 votes to replace him with his vice president, Alfredo Borrero.
Read More: Lasso’s Impeachment Odds Rise as Ecuador Congress Head Wins
The historically unprecedented move under Ecuador’s 15-year old constitution triggers a snap presidential and legislative election, which has led it to be colloquially known as “mutual death” since Lasso is also putting his own job on the line.
While Lasso pulled off a successful Covid-19 vaccination program and stabilized fiscal accounts, completing an IMF deal for the first time in more than 20 years, he faced ideological opposition from Correa from the beginning of his administration. His popularity has declined amid a crime wave that has seen Ecuador’s murder rate surge beyond those of Colombia and Mexico.
The elections are only to complete the regular term until mid-2025. Lasso has said he will seek the presidency again.
Before a new National Assembly takes office, Lasso will be allowed “to issue decrees or laws of economic urgency” pending a review by the Constitutional Court, according to article 148 of Ecuador’s 2008 constitution.
Indigenous organization CONAIE, which led violent protests against his government in 2022, said that it would take to streets again if he were to use his right to dissolve the legislature.
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