2023-05-10 17:28:28
The National Assembly with 88 votes in favor, 5 abstentions and 23 votes against, of the 116 legislators present, approved the continuation of the impeachment trial against President Guillermo Lasso, for the alleged crime of embezzlement that began in mid-March. There are several scenarios that could continue with the approval of this mechanism that is included in the Constitution of Ecuador. 88 votes to continue with the trial
Background. This March 8, the Oversight Commission, chaired by Fernando Villavicencio -who left the session- and the same one that did not approve the report, that is, the elements that are needed. “(…) they did not show up and there is nothing to continue with the impeachment trial,” said Paul Piray, a constitutional lawyer. It is for this reason that Virgilio Saquicela, president of the Assembly, called a plenary session to analyze the report that reveals evidence.
messes. For Giussepe Cabrera, a political analyst, “there is a complex legal issue”, because Saquicela, “convokes, but not with the report, but with the agenda of the president’s appeal”, that is to say that the commission did not vote, was suspended and it came to nothing, “it is a draft document”; Despite this, the vote has already taken place and the trial is still ongoing.
Sepal. Of the 88 votes, legislators for Chimborazo, Patricia Núñez, from UNES, and Daysi Yuquilema, an independent, voted in favor, while Katherine Estrada, from the Bancada del Acuerdo Nacional (BAN) was part of the 5 abstentions, while Rafael Lucero , from Pachakutik, yesterday ‘was conspicuous by its absence’.
Namely. At the end of the day there were enough votes to continue with the trial, even though Cabrera and Piray agreed that the man with the briefcase appeared “unfortunately.” At this time it became clear that the legislators who first openly supported the president backed down and then abstained. It discusses how the government’s ‘strategies’ so far have yielded results, however, the nature of the impeachment was a way of proving that a crime was actually committed, this will measure existing political strength.
Case. With the approval or not of the impeachment, we are facing a governance crisis, because according to Cabrera, both the former Minister of Government Francisco Jimenez and the current one, Henry Cucalón, “wasted time in discussions with the Assembly.
Whats Next. The trial would be on Monday, Saquicela must request the entire file from the Oversight Commission and make it known to the 137 assembly members. There are no clear deadlines.
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