Global Courant 2023-05-19 02:29:42
The moves come after President Guillermo Lasso, facing impeachment, dissolved the legislature and provoked new elections.
Members of Ecuador’s political opposition have filed a lawsuit against a decision by the country’s president to dissolve the National Assembly rather than launch impeachment proceedings.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, comes after the country’s electoral court said Ecuador could hold elections as early as August.
A day earlier, Lasso had invoked a quirk in Ecuador’s constitution known as “mutual death”, which both dissolved the National Assembly and triggered new presidential and legislative elections.
“We demand, we demand an immediate ruling from the Constitutional Court,” Virgilio Saquicela, the former assembly chief, said of the lawsuit in an interview with The Associated Press. It’s one of many legal challenges to Lasso’s move.
The lawsuit argues that Lasso’s action was unconstitutional because the country was not experiencing social unrest. Instead, Lasso’s opponents have argued, the president chose to dissolve the chamber just to avoid his own possible impeachment.
The president’s decision on Wednesday came a day after the opposition-controlled National Assembly began its second impeachment proceedings against Lasso, following a failed attempt last year.
The impeachment hearing focused on allegations that Lasso is deliberately turning a blind eye to an embezzlement scheme involving the state oil transportation company Flopec. Opposition lawmakers have said the issue is a pattern of wrongdoing.
However, Lasso has denied all allegations of corruption. He remains in office and rules by decree until his successor and a new legislature are elected, according to the constitution. That can take up to six months.
The National Electoral Council must now set a date for presidential and parliamentary elections within seven days of Lasso’s decision.
Council President Diana Atamaint told the Teleamazonas television network that a tentative date for the vote is August 20. If necessary, a second round would take place on 15 October.
Those challenging the move say time is of the essence because after the election date is set, “no authority should interfere with the conduct of the process,” lawyer and election analyst Medardo Oleas told The Associated Press.
Legislators who succeed in the snap election would only be in office until regular elections are held in 2025.
