(Quito) Threatened by impeachment proceedings, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso dissolved Parliament on Wednesday on the grounds of a “serious political crisis”, leading to early elections in a country plagued by political disputes.
The conservative head of state, targeted by an impeachment trial which opened on Tuesday before Parliament, decided to “dissolve the National Assembly because of the serious political crisis and internal unrest”, indicates a press release issued by its services.
The unpopular right-wing president, who came to power in May 2021, is accused by the left, the majority in the unicameral parliament, of embezzlement in the context of a public contract for the transport of crude oil. The opposition considers that he had been warned of the existence of this device, but that he did not act to stop it.
Mr. Lasso, a 67-year-old former banker, is however not being prosecuted in connection with this case. At the opening of his impeachment trial, he pleaded his “total, obvious and indisputable innocence” to the deputies.
In the wake of the announcement of the dissolution of Parliament, Mr. Lasso asked the National Electoral Council (CNE) to call early general elections. The Constitution provides that the electoral body convenes, within a maximum period of seven days after the publication of the decree of dissolution, the legislative and presidential elections, to complete the current four-year term.
“Possibility to decide”
“It is a democratic decision not only because it is constitutional, but also because it gives the Ecuadorian people the possibility to decide,” said Guillermo Lasso on the national television channel.
He will be able to govern until the installation of the new National Assembly by adopting decree-laws of economic emergency, but after favorable opinion of the Constitutional Court.
At dawn, the parliament building was guarded by soldiers, while around the presidential palace in the historic center of Quito, there were more uniformed officers than usual, AFP found.
“The Armed Forces and the National Police maintain and will unalterably maintain their posture of absolute respect for the Constitution,” said General Nelson Proaño, head of the Joint Command of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces, in a video released by the Ministry of Defense.
This is the first time that a head of state has used this right of dissolution, a provision which can only be activated once during the first three years of the mandate.
The triggering of this mechanism would be a sign of “political irresponsibility” in Mr. Lasso, had estimated Tuesday with AFP the constitutionalist Rafael Oyarte, stressing that it would benefit members of the opposition.
“Even if it is not certain that they will obtain the presidency of the Republic, one thing is certain: their deputies, who are currently 49 out of 137, will win more seats,” he explained.
In June, deputies had already tried to dismiss Guillermo Lasso at the time of violent indigenous demonstrations against the rising cost of living, but they had missed 12 votes to succeed.
The country, which experienced great political instability between 1997 and 2005, a period during which three presidents were overthrown by popular revolts, has also been confronted for months with a wave of violence due to a power struggle between the gangs involved in drug trafficking.