The National Assembly approved the report of a commission that recommends the motion of censure for alleged corruption | Lasso assures that they accuse him of a false fact, without logical or legal support
“The prosecution faces the impossibility of proving a false fact“. Ecuadorian President William Lasso reacted with predictable indignation after Congress approved this Saturday with 104 favorable votes a report that recommends starting impeachment on suspicion that he has attempted against the security of the State. “The report approved by the National Assembly lacks logical, evidentiary and legal support. However, I have arranged to respond with absolute transparency and speed to any requirement of the prosecution to clarify any doubts, “added the president. Lasso’s weakness had been revealed in early February after being defeated in a referendum that, among other things, sought to cut the influence of the legislative branch.
What happened in the National Assembly highlighted the extent to which his relationship with the other power of the republic has been unfavorable since the beginning of his administration, in May 2021: the motion in favor of censure had 34 more endorsements than those required. The president now faces the possibility of a dismissal, so demanded from his exile by Rafael Correa, as long as the steps desired by the toughest opposition to the right-wing government are followed.
The report approved by the National Assembly lacks logical, probative and legal support.
However, I have arranged to answer with absolute transparency and speed all requirements of the @FiscaliaEcuador to clarify any doubt. pic.twitter.com/uSXvQfxDTL
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) March 4, 2023
“The approval of this report does not mean that the political trial automatically begins,” the Quito newspaper El Comercio recalled in this regard. The recommendation of the parliamentary commission is not binding. As Lasso himself has remarked, it lacks legal value. However, it is enough for this proposal to be accompanied by 47 congressmen for the request to be processed, which, as an intermediate step, must also have the support of the Constitutional Court. In the event that this body accepts the path of the motion of censure, the National Assembly will need 92 votes in favor to make it effective. The path is winding, but, as you know around Lasso himself, feasible to materialize.
Government reaction
The Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, warned that the past given this Saturday by the legislature corrodes democratic stability and general uncertainty. “The report is an accommodation of patches and rectification where it also at their whim and convenience they have left out characters that should be investigated”, said in relation to the work of the congressmen on the alleged contacts of the president’s brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera and a personal friend with drug traffickers. At the same time, they maintain that the ex-banker’s coming to power meant the installation of a corrupt plot that affects the state oil company and other strategic items.
“Attempting perversely to manufacture a fable to try to set up a political trial the flight against the president of the republic, is not an act of control but of evident destabilization,” added Cucalón. “As all good fiction leads to a moral, what is built on falsehoods falls apart.”
?? The evidence of Lasso’s corruption.
When there really is no proof, it is that notebooks are forged, bribes of $5,000 are invented or accused of psychic influence.
With Lasso, none of that is necessary?#LosCorruptosSiempreFueronEllos pic.twitter.com/3eUfhiXWtc— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) March 4, 2023
The Ecuadorian political crisis exceeds the current Government. A few hours before the parliamentary session, the prosecution had requested the house arrest of Lenin Moreno, Lasso’s predecessor, accused of having received bribes from a Chinese company in exchange for the contract to build the country’s largest hydroelectric plant.