Quito.— “If we dare to change it, we still have time”, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso He went to the National Assembly on Tuesday to face a historic political trial, with the powerful opposition coalition intending to oust him halfway through his term.
He did it with the support of thousands of supporters to reach undecided delegates who could overturn a vote that appears to be against him earlier today “Institutional Attack”.
Lasso, before the National Assembly during his political trial
“I’m glad to see they haven’t been dragged into the chaos” Under maximum pressure, the President of Ecuador insisted. Bloc composed of parliamentarians of the Civil Revolution, ordered by the President before exile Rafael Correa, Social Christians led in Guayaquil by populist leader jame nebot and led by radical Indians Leonidas Iza Need President of Indigenous Nations Association (KONAI) 92 out of 137 seats to remove the lasso, since Sunday they believe they have at least 96 supports.
In favor of the transience of the alleged embezzlement allegation, the conservative president defended himself with solvency in a speech that lasted only 40 minutes, despite the fact that he had three hours to do so. Lasso blasted the Flowpec plot, which began with a contract to transport the oil made in 2018, for when his government would start exercising in 2021.
Opponents of the lasso, in front of the National Assembly “More than a year ago I sent the entire file to the attorney general’s office, but the negotiators do not want to see it and show their perverse bias,” retorted the president, who insisted that what “It is unusual to blame myself for something that I myself have condemned.”
“At stake is not the viability of the government, but of Ecuador as a state. We are playing democracy,” insisted the president, who managed to be criticized by a large part of society after the first minutes of the counterattack. listed “successes” and that He can only present the express vaccination against Covid-19, achieved in the first months of his tenure, as a major achievement.
Lasso supporters in front of the National Assembly
As he was leaving the plenary chamber, Lasso congratulated several of his colleagues from the Pachakutik (PK) indigenous party, who were needed to garner votes from the opposition coalition. The fate of the president seemed to depend on the number of seats that did not face great difficulties during the intervention of his two opponents, Revolutionary Assembly member Viviana Veloz and Social Christian Esteban Torres. “It failed and betrayed the popular will, it’s time for a change” Torres concluded.
Power struggles
Torres’s PSC went to the presidential election in alliance with the movement led by Lasso, but the total broke down due to disagreements over the distribution of posts. Four MPs elected on his list have in recent days left their benches, in contrast to the president’s removal.
“The voice of Viviana Veloz is the voice of the Ecuadorian people,” highlighted the legislator himself, who pointed to the lasso that has three exits: resignation, dismissal or imprisonment.
Lasso opponents around the National Assembly
By decision of the Constitutional Court, impeachment trials should be limited to charges of alleged embezzlement, excluding the corruption scandal led by Danilo Carrera, the president’s brother-in-law, involving business with public companies.
,The problem is you, Lasso, and you should have been fired and thrown in jail since the Pandora Papers scandal., An inept, greedy, despicable and unscrupulous president broadcasts those triggers across the country. Meanwhile, your bank is earning more than ever,” Correa criticized on social media, from where he directed attacks against his great enemy.
The former president, a fugitive from justice following an eight-year prison sentence for corruption, will be one of the great beneficiaries of Lasso’s fall.
“The lasso must be removed, his economic-political model, his inefficiency has led us to the worst social and political disaster that Ecuador has known in just two years. People are now hesitating or turning away from the assembly,” Iza said. Will not tolerate ‘absence’ from PK, who has threatened new indigenous marches in Quito if parliamentary victory is not achieved.
Both the Presidency and Parliament do not reach 20% of popular support In a country shaken by a wave of violence caused by drug trafficking, which is permanent with a high level of unemployment and a new migrant flight.
The political test will continue this Wednesday with a parliamentary debate, in which representatives can make whatever intervention they want, which will mean a new thermometer from Wills. Final voting is expected by the end of the week.
If the support of the opponents exceeds 92 on that day, Lasso will be replaced by his vice president, Alfredo Borrero., till 2025 election, If that figure is not met, Lasso will remain in power, but will do so surrounded by an opposition majority in parliament, local powers and the judicial system.
Within the ruling party, there is a commitment to dissolve parliament and call new general elections if the president does not garner sufficient support before the vote. it’s about famous “Cross Death” A card played for the deputies from Carondelet Palace who do not want to lose their positions.
