Ecuador Has the Opportunity to Get Rid of Lasso, Correa Says

On Wednesday, former President Rafael Correa commented on the political events taking place in Ecuador, where President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and called early general elections.

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"What Lasso is doing is illegal. Obviously there is no 'internal commotion'. He simply could not buy enough legislators to save himself from impeachment," said the leader of the Citizen Revolution, the largest leftist political movement in this South American country.

"In any case, this is a great opportunity to get rid of Lasso, his government and his legislators for rent. It is an opportunity to recover the homeland," Correa said.

"His decision is an escape valve for the crisis. It will allow a new government to be elected in peace and democracy... People will have the opportunity to vote, which lowers tensions."

On Wednesday morning, Lasso informed the nation of his decision to dissolve the National Assembly, whose legislators initiated an impeachment against him yesterday, accusing him of being related to a corruption scandal in the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet ( FLOPEC).

The tweet reads, "Police officers are deployed around the National Assembly in Quito. Dozens of soldiers and police have surrounded the National Assembly, an institution that President Guillermo Lasso dissolved on Wednesday."

Invoking the Constitution's article 148, he prevented himself from being removed from office, which could have happened no later than Saturday. 

He will be able to govern by decree for six months without parliamentary controls. This possibility does not mean, however, that Lasso can do anything, at least in principle.

"Decrees are not laws but rather operational norms that allow the implementation of what the law establishes. There is only one exception to this principle: the 'Urgent Economic Decree-Act.' However, its issuance is subject to control by the Constitutional Court," explained Rommel Jurado, a constitutional lawyer.

"The next National Assembly will be able to review all the decree-acts that Lasso issues in these months. The next president will also be able to review and repeal all his regular decrees," the Central University of Ecuador professor pointed out.