Ecuador’s National Assembly should not impeach President Guillermo Lasso, according to a draft report summarizing testimony from initial hearings before the congressional oversight committee.
(Bloomberg) — Ecuador’s National Assembly should not impeach President Guillermo Lasso, according to a draft report summarizing testimony from initial hearings before the congressional oversight committee.
The draft, which follows 10 days of testimony, found the evidence failed to meet the constitutional criteria of political responsibility for alleged embezzlement needed to impeach Lasso, one of Latin America’s few remaining market-friendly presidents.
“It has not been proved that President Lasso benefited from or has benefited third parties by abusing public funds,” according to the 298-page draft report, which sided with Lasso’s defense.
The obligatory review by the oversight committee is part of the lengthy impeachment process set in Ecuador’s 2008 constitution, which includes proof of embezzlement as one of a few crimes that allow congress to remove a sitting president.
The impeachment’s backers in the opposition-led congress allege Lasso committed embezzlement by failing to cancel a single oil shipping contract involving state company FLOPEC, the lone accusation that Ecuador’s Constitutional Court allowed to be discussed at the impeachment trial, dismissing other allegations.
Fernando Villavicencio, the committee chair, will submit the report to the full nine-member panel for a vote before it goes to congress President Virgilio Saquicela for the trial to continue, Villavicencio said in a text message.
Approval of the non-binding report will hinge on the position of independent lawmaker Bruno Segovia, close to Yaku Perez, a center-left candidate who placed third in the 2021 presidential first-round vote behind Lasso and socialist economist Andres Arauz.
When it reaches the plenary floor, it “could give cover to those lawmakers who are inclined to vote against Lasso’s impeachment, but it may still be rejected in both the committee and plenary, so Lasso is not yet in the clear,” said Eurasia Latin America Director Risa Grais-Targow via text message.
‘Down to the Wire’
An impeachment vote before the opposition-held plenary could go ahead May 16, with 92 of 137 votes necessary to remove the president from office. In June 2022, a year after being sworn in, Lasso survived a first impeachment effort as the opposition obtained only 80 votes.
The vote will likely follow a midterm reshuffle of congressional leadership, in which Lasso’s allies can offer votes to support other parties in exchange for his political survival.
“It will still come down to the wire and a lot can happen in 11 days,” said Grais-Targow. Lasso also still has the right to dissolve the National Assembly, putting lawmakers’ jobs on the line.
Infighting over impeachment has hit the conservative Social Christian Party, which has lost three of its 16 lawmakers this week.
The question of support for Lasso has also divided Indigenous party Pachakutik, the second-largest party in the legislature.
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