RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador’s National Assembly voted on Thursday against the Investment Attraction, Stock Market Strengthening, and Digital Transformation Law proposed by the Ecuadorian president.
The project promoted by President Guillermo Lasso was rejected with the votes of 87 assembly members from opposition parties, almost double the 44 who favored the initiative, while three others voted in abstention.
Against the legislative initiative voted the Union for Hope (Unes), the first force in the Parliament, joined by the indigenous and plurinational movement Pachakutik and the Democratic Left (social democracy).
Through the initiative, President Guillermo Lasso hoped to attract around US$30 billion in investments and thus generate two million jobs to revitalize the country’s economy.
However, the bill met with strong rejection and distrust from opposition parties, social movements, indigenous organizations, and unions, which feared that it would encourage the privatization of public companies and favor the private sector if approved.
The Ecuadorian president had described the draft Investment Law as an opportunity to put the country on the development path.