The National Assembly (Congress) of Ecuador informed yesterday that it sent the Constitutional Court the request for impeachment filed by 59 legislators against President Guillermo Lasso for alleged crimes against public administration.
The document was sent after the Legislative Administration Council (CAL) approved with five votes to admit the request for impeachment presented last March 16 by assembly members of several political parties and movements in opposition to Lasso’s Government.
“The National Assembly sent to the Constitutional Court the resolution of the CAL that was technically and legally verified”, published the National Assembly in its account on the social network Twitter.
This decision of the Assembly is final; after last March 20, the CAL approved to admit to process the impeachment petition but left it without effect after errors were detected in the original request.
This led the legislators to propose impeachment to amend the errors and submit a new document.
According to the Constitution, the Court has six days to issue an admissibility ruling on whether or not to initiate impeachment proceedings.
If the opinion is favorable, the impeachment trial must be substantiated by the Auditing Commission of the National Assembly; otherwise, it will be filed.
On March 4, the plenary of the Assembly approved with 104 votes in favor of the legislative committee report that investigated the president and recommended initiating an impeachment trial, which could lead to his removal from office.
The grounds for the impeachment recommendation is article 129 of the Ecuadorian Constitution in its numeral 2, which refers to crimes of extortion, bribery, embezzlement, or illicit enrichment, better known as crimes against public administration.
The assembly members configured the alleged commission of these crimes in the administration of the state-owned oil company Petroecuador, the Public Company Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana (Flopec), and the Coordinating Company of Public Companies (Emco EP).
Lasso, who will govern Ecuador since May 24, 2021, has denied the accusations against him and has stated that they only seek to destabilize his administration.
In addition, the Government has maintained that the impeachment request lacks political and legal elements to support a process against the president.