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News > Ecuador

Ecuador's National Assembly Appoints Otto Sonnenholzer as VP

  • businessman and broadcaster Otto Sonnenholzer.

    businessman and broadcaster Otto Sonnenholzer. | Photo: Twitter / @Presidencia_Ec

Published 11 December 2018
Opinion

Sonnenholzner, 35, received  94 votes in favor at the National Assembly. He has been endorsed by major right-wing groups in the country.

The National Assembly of Ecuador Tuesday appointed businessman and broadcaster Otto Sonnenholzer as vice president of Ecuador to replace María Alejandra Vicuña, who resigned a week ago following a scandal surrounding the funding of her political group.

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Sonnenholzner, 35, received  94 votes in favor out of the 128 members who were present at Tuesday's session at the country's National Assembly.

Of German and Lebanese descent, Otto Ramón Sonnenholzner was the first of the list sent by the head of State Lenin Moreno to the Assembly, along with Nancy Fabiola Elizabeth Vasco Noboa and Agustín Guillermo Albán Maldonado.

Sonnenholzer directs family businesses in construction and agriculture, according to local media. He is also being endorsed by right-wing factions in the country, including the National Integration coalition within the assembly and the National Chamber of Commerce that represents Ecuador’s big business sector.

Moreno has assured that all the candidates have a "transparent past" after he asked his most previous vice president, Maria Alejandra Vicuña to resign after being accused of receiving bribes while she was a lawmaker in 2013 in return for giving jobs.

Vicuña replaced Jorge Glas in January of this year who was imprisoned last year over controversial charges of receiving bribes from the Brazilian Odebrecht construction company, accusations he denies and which his allies argue is part of a witch hunt against officials of the former leftist government of Rafael Correa.

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