2023-05-20 05:01:00
Ecuador accelerates the search for candidates after the confirmation of the Constitutional Court of the dissolution of Parliament decreed by the president, Guillermo Lasso. Meanwhile the Electoral Council began the process for the extraordinary elections of president, vice president and legislators.
Elections on August 20
Although it has yet to be known by the plenary session of the National Electoral Council, its president Diana Atamaintadvanced that the elections -which must be called until next Wednesday- could take place August 20.
If a second ballot is necessary, it would take place on October 15.Therefore, in November, Ecuador would already have integrated the Executive and the Legislative, according to Atamaint’s calculations. Meanwhile, and by Constitutional order, the conservative Lasso will govern through decree-laws and it will be the Constitutional Court that endorses or not those related to economic issues.
In the midst of a political trial against him, Lasso opted on Wednesday for the constitutional tool of the “cross death”invoking “serious internal and political commotion”, for which he dissolved Parliament, with an opposition majority, and called for general elections.
The head of state did not wait for the result of the vote of the motion of censure in the Assembly, whereand the opposition accused him of an alleged crime of embezzlement (embezzlement), which he denied.
The Court ratifies the “cross death”
In turn, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador unanimously rejected this Thursday the lawsuits filed against the decision to dissolve Congress. The highest Ecuadorian court issued six rulings in which it resolved to “reject the claims of unconstitutionality”, as well as “the requests that the Court adopt precautionary measures in order to provisionally suspend the effects of the contested Decree,” says a statement from the agency.
The court added that “It does not have the competence to rule on the verification and motivation of the cause of serious political crisis and internal commotion” and that “neither does any other judicial authority in the country have it.”
With this, Lasso’s decision announced on Wednesday remains firm. The president, who took office in May 2021, celebrated through his Twitter account. “This Court ratifies my decision in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic,” he wrote.
Lasso doesn’t show up
Lasso declared this Friday to the American newspaper The Washington Post that he does not intend to be a candidate and that he does not care who is going to replace him. “My goal is not to prevent someone from returning to Ecuador,” he said, referring to former President Rafael Correa, who currently lives in exile in Belgium.
Lasso said that he had decided to decree the “crusader death” several days before doing so, but that he waited until he had secured the support of the military leadership. “The fundamental thing was to generate a way out of this political crisis. It was an act of generosity towards the country, shortening the presidential term in favor of the general interest of Ecuadorians and not continuing with this shameful spectacle of fights between politicians,” he praised himself.
However, in the same article, the political scientist Simón Pachano of FLACSO-Ecuador questions the supposed political generosity of the president. “It looks more like he has no chance of winning,” said the analyst. “Lasso is like a poker player, he doesn’t show his emotions,” he added.
Lasso has decreed a state of emergency in various parts of the country, sometimes echoing the president’s strategy Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, known for its strong-arm security policies. In April, Lasso allowed civilians to keep and carry weapons for self-defense.
And the next week, he told The Postplans to approve an executive order to give “more confidence, tranquility and security to our law enforcementso they can use their gifted weapons to protect innocent citizens and themselves as well.”
dance of names
One of the names that sounds like a possible candidate is that of the ex-assembly member Fernando Villavicenciowho has already posted a message on his Twitter account in which he assures that from Parliament he fought against corruption and mafias.
“This cannot stop here, we have to continue,” he said before inviting Ecuadorians “to continue in this task, clearly identifying that the common enemy is the drug trafficking mafia, (…) white-collar criminals. I I commit to all of you to bring justice and peace to reactivate the economy,” he said in a video.
At the same time, Stephen Torresfrom the opposition Social Christian Party (PSC), is committed to a great national reconstruction front from the center to the right, focused on the needs of all, especially on security issues.
The leader of the PSC, Jaime Nebothas not ruled on a possible candidacy, but in a statement stating that they accept “under protest” the ruling of the Constitutional Court, points out: “Neither Lasso nor Correa. Progress in freedom for Ecuador.”
A strong correísmo
The extraordinary elections will find the political movement of former President Correa (2007-2017) at its best, having remained the main political force in the country in the local elections last February.
Correa calls the dissolution of the Assembly “unconstitutional” considering that there was no “internal commotion”, and believes that Lasso opted for the measure to avoid censorship in the impeachment trial, but maintains that “the best thing for the Homeland is to have elections “.
Correísmo has not yet mentioned possible candidates, but andres arauzwho lost to Lasso in the 2021 ballot, speaks of the need to build a coalition, a “historic bloc”, that shelters various social movements, including indigenous ones.
On his side, the former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) maintains that “it is citizen time” and has called for a “cool head” so that the triumph of correísmo in the local elections on February 5 is not repeated.
Moreno, who distanced himself from Correísmo when he came to power after being Correa’s vice president, considered that it is necessary to “understand the moment, give priority to what is truly important: freedom, democracy, institutionality, respect and citizen well-being.”
“For this, it is required (it is a condition, not an option): unity, organization, synchronicity and, above all, humility and detachment. We are clear about it or we repeat what happened in February,” he said.
According to Correa, the “tab on the right” will be Moreno’s former vice president, Otto Sonnenholzer, who last Wednesday criticized the Ecuadorian political class. “This crisis is the result of the irresponsibility of a political class that has put its interests above the needs of Ecuadorians,” he said. “The country does not deserve more division and instability. Calm must be restored and work to strengthen the hope of real change,” he added.
For his part, the former presidential candidate, Yaku Perezadvanced that he is holding meetings with social organizations to define a position and did not rule out dialogues, “thinking about the country”, with the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, Leonidas Izawhose name also sounds like a presidential candidate.
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