Quito (EFE)
In the session, which began at 10:17 local time (15:17 GMT) with the presence of 109 assembly members, the two designated interpellants will speak first, before giving way to Lasso’s participation, which is expected to start around noon .
Lasso supporters
Supporters of the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, gathered this Tuesday near the National Assembly (Parliament), hours before the impeachment trial of censorship in the Assembly begins, where the opposition accuses the ruler of alleged embezzlement of public funds.
The supporters, who carry flags of the pro-government Creando Oportunidades (CREO) movement, gathered in El Arbolito park, where a giant screen has been placed to follow the impeachment process.
It is expected that representatives of social organizations will also gather in Quito while the trial is taking place in the Assembly, where Lasso will arrive around noon to defend himself against the accusations.
A look at the trial
With 96 votes, the independent Virgilio Saquicela was re-elected as head of Parliament with the hard vote of the opposition movement Union for Hope, former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017) and the opposition Social Christian Party (PSC), among others.
If the same vote captured by Saquicela is transferred to the political trial, Lasso’s fate would be cast since his dismissal requires 92 votes.
But, the legislator Yeseña Guamaní, appointed on Sunday as the third member of the Legislative Administration Council, opined that the “overwhelming vote” on Sunday in the Assembly “may be a reference but not a definition for the trial” of Lasso.
After the results of the elections in the Assembly, the issue of the “cross death” returned to the political arena, as the power of the head of state to dissolve Parliament and govern by decree is known while new general elections are held.
The Legal Secretary of the Presidency, Juan Pablo Ortiz, affirmed on Monday that the decree for the application of the “cross death” is ready. “That option has always been considered, but that is a decision of the President. It’s ready,” Ortiz explained.
But Saquicela believes that there are no grounds to apply that figure, because “they cannot be protected, in the face of the existence of a political trial, in that figure in general terms.”
Lasso and his trial process
According to the opposition, Lasso committed an alleged embezzlement by learning of alleged irregularities in a contract signed by the state company Flota Petrolera del Ecuador (Flopec) and the private firm Amazonas Tanker and not having acted to prevent further damage to the State.
Instead, the president’s defense maintains that the contracts were signed under the previous administration of former President Lenín Moreno (2017-2021) and that under Lasso’s mandate a review was requested from the Comptroller’s Office (Court of Accounts) to renew them under the conditions and observations made by that body.
Last Tuesday, with 88 votes in favor, 23 against and 5 abstentions, the Legislature approved entering the last phase of the trial, in which Lasso will be questioned today.
This Tuesday, the trial session will begin with the participation of the two legislators designated as interpellants, before giving way to Lasso’s intervention.
“There will be the right to reply and later the debate will be opened, which will determine the fate of the head of state regarding the sanction or not,” Saquicela explained, noting that the vote will take place 72 hours after the end of the aforementioned discussion.
The Organization of American States (OAS) asked on Monday that “all guarantees of justice” be offered and that due process be respected in the political trial of censorship of the president of Ecuador.