Ecuador’s president dissolves Congress during an impeachment trial
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday dissolved the country’s opposition-led National Assembly, a drastic move as the right-leaning leader faced impeachment proceedings over embezzlement charges.
The never-before-used constitutional measure allows the president to rule by decree until new elections can be held, marking a moment of extraordinary political turbulence for a country of 18 million already in turmoil.
Ecuador has long been a relatively safe haven in the region, but in recent years there has been a rise in violence and a skyrocketing murder rate as increasingly powerful groups of drug smugglers fight for territory.
Opposition lawmakers accused Mr Lasso of turning a blind eye to irregularities and embezzlement in a contract between a state-run shipping company and an oil tanker company that failed to deliver on its promises – accusations made first in media reports. The country’s constitutional court later upheld an embezzlement charge against the president but denied two charges of bribery.
Last week, the National Assembly voted to begin impeachment hearings, but all proceedings were finally halted when Lasso dissolved Congress.
The president repeatedly denied the allegations, pointing out that the contract was signed before he took office.
“The prosecutors of this trial have acknowledged that they have nothing,” Lasso said in his impeachment statement Tuesday. “This investigation is political.”
He added, “This is not about saving a presidency, it’s about preserving a functioning democracy.”
This is the second time the opposition has attempted to remove Mr Lasso from the presidency since he took office in 2021.
He faced growing criticism and petitions for his removal from community groups, despite rising crime, extortion, kidnappings and robberies. Gangs are vying for control of drug routes and have increased control over the country’s prisons, leading to several prison riots and massacres over the past three years.
For weeks, the president and congress have been embroiled in a game of impotence, with lawmakers threatening to impeach and remove Mr. Lasso as he threatens to dissolve congress and call new elections — a move known in Ecuador as muerte cruzada , or mutually assured death.
The mechanism was written into the constitution in 2008 as a tool to break deadlocks between the presidency and the legislature. But so far no president has ever enacted it.
Now, with approval rates falling, in some cases below 20 percent, Mr Lasso must call new presidential and parliamentary elections and will rule by decree in the meantime. The newly elected president and the National Assembly would then rule for two years, until the end of the original term in 2025.
The dissolution of the Congress brings temporary stability to the country, said Arianna Tanca, an Ecuadorian political scientist, allowing Lasso to pass laws without deadlock and giving political parties a chance for a “reset.”
But it also threatens to undermine the country’s democracy. A head of government calling for new elections is common in parliamentary democracies but has no parallel in other presidential democracies in Latin America, said Mauricio Alarcón Salvador, the director of Transparency International’s Ecuador chapter.
“It is undoubtedly a blow to democracy to see a president close the assembly and temporarily take over the legislature,” he said. “And especially to the system of checks and balances that should be in place in every democracy in the world.”
Mr. Lasso’s decision comes amid unrest in the region. In December, Peru’s president attempted to dissolve the Congress — in this case, an illegal move that led to his removal and arrest, and then widespread protests that left dozens dead.
In January, supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in the capital, arguing that the November election in which he was defeated had been tampered with.
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Lasso’s decision to sidestep lawmakers could – potentially – be good for him.
“While he is very unpopular now, I could see that ruling by decree for six months will actually increase his popularity if he can quickly address the twin crises of crime, hunger and poverty,” he said. “Though, given his track record, that’s a big if.”
Jose Maria Leon Cabrera reporting contributed.