Lasso Faces Political Crisis in Ecuador

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Lasso Faces Political Crisis in Ecuador
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Fecha de publicación: 
12 February 2023
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Without support and resignations in his cabinet, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, ends the week facing a political crisis after the defeat of his referendum at the polls.

 

That consultative procedure was his main bet to have oxygen for the remainder of his term, but the citizens voted No to the eight questions proposed on issues such as extradition, reduction of parties and assembly members, environment, among others.

 

The allegations of corruption that involve the national administration, the abandonment of the State to the most vulnerable population, as well as the recurring lies of President Lasso, contributed to the government’s failure in the elections, former vice-presidential candidate Carlos Rabascall told Prensa Latina .

 

The president recognized the setback and called for a national agreement, but so far he has only received refusals from political and social organizations.

 

From the Citizen Revolution movement -main winner of the sectional elections with nine prefectures and 61 mayors- to the right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC) -former ally of the president- declined the proposal considering it cynical and not very credible.

 

In the same way, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), whose leader, Leonidas Iza, recalled that they already sat down to talk with the Government and it has broken most of the former agreements.

 

In the midst of this scenario, more and more voices are being raised within the opposition that ask to anticipate the end of Lasso’s government period through different legal means, from resignation to the so-called cross death, a mechanism that would dissolve the National Assembly (parliament) and advance presidential elections.

 

This week a process to revoke the mandate of the current ruler also came to life after the Electoral Dispute Tribunal (TCE) repealed the decision to file an application aimed at ending the current government.

 

This means that a new TCE judge must decide on the request presented by the Popular Coordinator for the Revocation collective, which seeks to collect signatures and remove Lasso from office, a process provided for in the Constitution. Adding to the bad news for the president are the investigations into the alleged network of corruption in public companies in the electricity sector whose leader could be his brother-in-law Danilo Carrera, whom they have called here The Great Godfather.

 

This Friday, the Prosecutor’s Office raided offices in the Carondelet Palace, headquarters of the Executive, and homes of former officials, while the former servant of the presidency Mauricio Guim was arrested on the border with Colombia, who was released after declaring.

 

In the midst of this scenario, Lasso decided to reform his cabinet and on Thursday he installed four new ministers and four governors after the occupants of those positions resigned, including the head of government, who was no longer Francisco Jiménez and is now Henry cucualón

 

Although the definitive results of the referendum and the sectional elections have not been proclaimed by the electoral authorities, the trend to No in the referendum is already irreversible, even when there are complaints of alleged fraud.

 

The National Assembly, various civil and political organizations, and vote observers spoke about the statement by the vice president of the National Electoral Council, Enrique Pita, regarding the discovery of a supposed parallel computer center in the province of Guayas.

 

It is unacceptable to try to affect the trust of voters by hindering, without any sense, the electoral process, the Assembly said in a statement, in which it warned that it will be vigilant so that popular and civic expression is not violated or ignored.

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