Indigenous protester dies in Ecuador as violence increases
Al JazeeraNov 25, 2022
Ecuador: Pres. Lasso Dissolves Congress, Calls for Elections
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Image copyright: EPA [via BBC News]
The Facts
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday announced the unprecedented triggering of a constitutional "mutual death" clause to dissolve the legislature and call for snap general elections, which will take place in the coming months.
Following the dissolution of the opposition-led National Assembly, Ecuador's influential confederation of Indigenous groups has deemed the order "dictatorial."
The Spin
Left narrative
Lasso has illegally prevented himself from being impeached in the coming days but, by doing so, he is offering a golden opportunity for the Ecuadorian people to vote him out of office, recover the country, and lower tensions. While he will be able to govern by decree for six months without the legislative checks and balances, the law does not allow Lasso to do anything he wants. This is an authoritarian move by Lasso, but there's a pathway toward a brighter future.
Right narrative
Despite claims that this is an illegal order, it was the radical leftist authoritarian Rafael Correa who enshrined Article 148, which requires only an executive order to trigger this move, in the constitution. This decree is justifiable as the opposition camp has long sought to drag Ecuador into a political crisis to depose the democratically elected government, fueling unrest and activating 14 impeachment trials.
