2024-08-24 08:45:30
The Legislative Administration Council (CAL) has taken note of the request for impeachment against Mónica Palencia, Minister of the Interior of the government of Daniel Noboa.
Assemblywoman Paola Cabezas, from the Citizen Revolution, is the promoter of the process. The CAL has established a three-day deadline starting on July 19, 2024 to receive a technical report.
The CAL has decided to request a non-binding technical-legal report from the Legislative Technical Unit on compliance with the requirements for the political control process. The main argument for the impeachment is the alleged responsibility of Minister Palencia in the country’s insecurity, due to the lack of clarity in the aspects of the Phoenix Plan, a campaign proposal by President Daniel Noboa.
Paola Cabezas has stated that the impeachment has the support of legislators from the political organizations Construye, Partido Social Cristiano, Pachakutik and independents. The Constitution allows the National Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against high-ranking state officials, including ministers, attorney general, comptroller, prosecutor, ombudsman, superintendents and members of the electoral, electoral litigation, judicial and citizen participation councils. These trials can be based on failure to comply with functions assigned by the Constitution and the law, both during the exercise of office and up to one year after leaving office.
Currently, Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld is also facing an impeachment process in the National Assembly, promoted by Correa’s supporters. The request for impeachment against Sommerfeld is based on the police raid on the Mexican Embassy in Quito in April 2024. Jorge Glas, for his part, is in the La Roca rehabilitation center in Guayas.
Foreign Minister Sommerfeld has stated that the trial is not just against her, but against all of Ecuador, and has presented more than 20 pieces of evidence to exonerate her from the accusations of neglect of duty.
The impeachment process in the National Assembly includes several steps:
- Start of the process: An assembly member submits a formal request, supported by at least a quarter of the members of the National Assembly.
- Preliminary analysis: The Oversight and Political Control Commission evaluates whether there is sufficient merit to proceed with the trial, calling on those involved to present evidence and arguments in their defense.
- Plenary session of the National AssemblyIf the Oversight Committee finds merit, the case is referred to the Plenary Assembly, where a debate is held and evidence is presented. Accused officials have the right to a defense.
- Voting:To remove an official through impeachment, a qualified majority of the assembly members is required, equivalent to two thirds of the total members of the National Assembly.
In addition to considering the impeachment request, the CAL has defined a 30-day extension, from July 21 to August 19, 2024, for the work of the Occasional Commission for the Investigation of Irregularities against the Public Administration. This temporary delegation is headed by Assemblyman Jaime Moreno. The Organic Law of the Legislative Function allows the CAL to extend, for one time only, the operation of the occasional commissions.