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Ecuador's National Assembly President Jose Serrano has been dismissed from office, with 103 members of the assembly voting in support of the motion on Friday evening.
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With only three participants abstaining, the National Assembly voted to dismiss Serrano and initiated an impeachment trial against Attorney General Carlos Baca following a leaked audio recording which implicates Serrano in alleged corruption.
The motion to remove Serrano was brought by Henry Cucalon, a member of the Social Christian Party. Cucalon believes many more people may be connected.
Serrano's dismissal follows several allegations of conspiracy after Baca released an audio recording of a conversation between Serrano and former Auditor General Carlos Polit, a fugitive who is currently being investigated for corruption.
The former president said he only spoke to Polit to obtain information related to corruption cases. However, Serrano had previously pushed for former Vice-President Jorge Glas' impeachment in connection with the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
A number of assemblymen raised their voices during the session, repeating their request for Serrano's resignation. Assemblywoman Marcela Aguiñaga suggested that, as a matter of principle, the president and vice-presidents should be removed in order to continue governing the nation without risk of corruption.
"The appearance of audio – the timing and whose origin is still unknown – was meant to weaken democracy after the results of the popular consultation, and curb the investigations that the country demands," Serrano said in court, accusing Baca of attempting to destabilize the nation.
"My big mistake was to trust that this call corresponded to a spontaneous act, and I confess that I was wrong to take that call," Serrano had said earlier Friday.
Secretary of the National Assembly Libya Rivas and Pro-Secretary Diego Torres submitted their resignations prior to the vote, saying that the process was unconstitutional.
Baca has continued to withhold information regarding the origins of the recording, which is believed to have been obtained illegally.
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