Ecuador enters an unpredictable political crisis. A few days after serving two years in office, the right-wing president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the Legislative Assembly, with an opposition majority, on Wednesday and called early presidential and legislative elections. A decision protected by the Constitution but questioned by opponents of Lasso, although paradoxically it could represent a way out of the tense political situation that the country has been experiencing for months. For now, the country is calm.
"This is the best decision to give a constitutional solution to the political crisis and internal commotion that Ecuador is enduring and return to the Ecuadorian people the power to decide their future in the next elections," the president said in his speech.
The president made the announcement in a televised message when it was not yet seven in the morning this Wednesday (local time), after an impeachment against him began yesterday in Parliament. Lasso, who argued the "serious political crisis and state of internal commotion" to end the mandate of the legislators, anticipated the possible removal of him in a vote that had to be held this week.
Immediately after the presidential message, military and police units surrounded the Legislative Assembly, located in Quito. Both the commanders of the Armed Forces and the National Police spoke in favor of the measure taken by Lasso and asked the population to be respected. "The Armed Forces and the National Police are obedient and non-belligerent institutions and we fulfill our mission strictly subject to civil power and the Constitution," said General Nelson Proaño, head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces.
Anticipating a possible popular reaction to the dissolution of Parliament, Proaño was convinced that "the country will not accept any attempt to alter the constitutional order through violence to attack democracy." The general assured that the military and police "will act firmly in compliance with our constitutional mission to protect the life, rights and guarantees of Ecuadorians" and advocated "maintaining a climate of respect for the law, without confrontations, without violence, which will allow us to have an Ecuador in peace and a country with freedom and dignity".
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, assured that the police will only act "if the established order is affected."
The dissolution of Parliament is a prerogative of the president and of the Legislative Assembly itself, as stated in the Constitution. Known as "cross death", this is the first time that the head of the executive branch has applied it since the 2008 Magna Carta was approved. However, it is in question whether Lasso's decision is legitimate, since he tries to circumvent his dismissal parliamentary and takes refuge in the "serious political crisis and internal commotion". Although the president also ends up leaving power with his measure to call presidential elections, he will take away the opposition legislators and will also be able to govern by decree until the new unicameral Assembly is formed.
In this sense, the main opposition leader, former leftist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), described Lasso's decision as "illegal" but tacitly endorsed the measure because it could mean the return to power of his supporters. Correa is a refugee in Belgium and does not want to return to Ecuador because he is facing an eight-year prison sentence and 25 years of disqualification for corruption.
"What Lasso is doing is illegal. Obviously there is no internal commotion. He just couldn't buy enough assemblymen to save himself. In any case, this is a great opportunity to get rid of Lasso, his government and his rented assemblymen, and recover homeland," Correa said on his social networks. "It is obvious that there is no state of internal commotion, but a political trial in application of the Constitution," added the former president.
Much tougher was the president of the influential Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), Leonidas Iza, who called the dissolution of Parliament a "cowardly self-coup" that turns the country into a "dictatorship." "Not having the necessary votes to save himself from his imminent dismissal, Lasso carries out a cowardly self-coup with the help of the Police and the Armed Forces, without citizen support, turning into an imminent dictatorship," Iza tweeted, adding that in the coming hours the organization will take action against the president's decision.
The impeachment against Lasso was based on an accusation of corruption for maritime oil transport contracts signed during the presidency of Lenín Moreno (2017-2021) but updated during the present government.
The impeachment trial against Lasso, which was interrupted by the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, was promoted by the correísta Union for Hope (Unes), the right-wing Christian Social Party (PSC) and some legislators from the Pachakutik indigenous movement. However, this Tuesday 11 of the 24 Pachakutik deputies assured that they would vote against the dismissal of Lasso.
However, the political situation in Ecuador was very tense since February 5, when correísmo prevailed in the municipal elections and the Government lost a referendum where it intended to introduce constitutional reforms. Since then, Lasso's position was greatly weakened to exercise the government during the two long years that he still had ahead of him.
