Democracy in agony

ECUADOR - In Brief 24 Jun 2022 by Magdalena Barreiro

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After 12 days of riots and violence under the makeup of an indigenous protest over the cost of living and other economic and security problems in Ecuador, the suspected truth emerges. UNES, led by former President Correa, has initiated the petition for cross death and the destitution of President Lasso based on Article 130 of our Constitution. This article contemplates the destitution of a president given serious political and social commotion without the approval of the Constitutional Court. Forty-six votes are required to initiate the motion, and UNES has 47, so the president of the Assembly will be forced to summon legislators to acknowledge the petition. President Lasso will have 72 hours for his defense, after which, if the majority of 91 votes decides his destitution, the Electoral Council will have to convoke new elections for the presidency and for the Assembly within 7 days. During this process, President Lasso could also exercise his faculty for the cross-death process, closing the Assembly for six months and governing together with the Electoral Court until new elections. Whether UNES will gather 91 votes is not certain yet since the secured votes are those from the 10 dissidents from Pachakutik and the 47 seven from UNES. But, even if all of Pachakutik votes with UNES they would sum 74 votes. Therefore, it depends on the votes from Social Christians and Izquierda Democrática who until last week did not support the cross-death path. In the meanwhile, Ecuador is at only 75% of its oil production capacity as over 950 wells are closed either for security reasons or because they are under the control of the rioters. Also, Coca Codo Sinclair, the largest hydroele...