Ecuador: National Assembly calls for impeachment proceedings against Lasso 

Ecuador’s National Assembly voted Saturday (4) in favor of a report recommending the initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Guillermo Lasso.

The head of state is accused of corruption in dealings with public companies.

The report, which is not binding, was approved by 104 of Ecuador’s 137 parliamentarians, an expected rejection of Lasso’s leadership.

Lasso, a conservative former banker, does not have a majority in the National Assembly and has repeatedly clashed with lawmakers, some of whom tried to oust him in 2022.

The report was presented Wednesday by a commission of seven majority opposition lawmakers investigating allegations that positions and contracts at Ecuadorian state-owned companies were exchanged for bribes.

The text concluded that Lasso might have been involved in possible crimes against state security and public administration, which the government denies.

Lasso’s government has called the report an “attack on reason” and claims its findings are based on coincidences and conjecture.

For impeachment proceedings to begin, a deputy must present evidence against Lasso with the support of 46 other deputies, and the Constitutional Court must approve the effort.