Ecuador’s parliament announced Tuesday that a full session of the Legislature will resume this Wednesday the political trial against President Guillermo Lasso, who has been accused of embezzlement after having knowledge of alleged irregularities in state companies.
The Ecuadorian National Assembly reported on its official Twitter account Tuesday night that by order of Parliament Speaker Virgilio Saquisela, “Session number 872 of the Legislative Plenary Session has been suspended. It will be held on Wednesday, May 17 at 09:30 (local time) ) but will start again.
This Tuesday, assembly members began a session lasting nearly 11 hours to address the impeachment trial against Lasso, which if approved would lead to his ouster. For this to happen, at least 92 of the 137 delegates would have to vote in favor of a motion of no confidence.
During the day, 39 legislators from a list of 70 participated, who signed to present their respective points of view on the subject, so it is expected that the vote on the motion of censure against the head of state will take place next Saturday. Who will
Legislators Viviana Veloz and Esteban Torres, as interlocutors, took the stage in the plenary session to support the evidence, while the defense was made by Ruler Lasso.
Veloz noted that the state comptroller general’s office determined that the contract between the state company Flopec EP and Amazonas Tankers caused the state more than six million dollars in damages.
He pointed out that this fact was noticed and brought to the attention of the President of the Republic and several Ministers of State, yet the contract was renewed during the Lasso government.
Elaborating more on the subject, Veloz said that “all these facts lead to the political responsibility of the President of the Republic, we are convinced that not only did he know about and allow corruption, but he was also part of it.” was in violation of the provisions of Article 233 of the Constitution.
President Lesso, when he took the stage, condemned what appeared to be an attempt to conspire with events that happened in 2018, when his government was not in power.
The president pleaded not guilty and saw a political structure in his case.
