The Ecuadorian Congress paves the way for the trial of President Laso

This weekend, by 104 of the 137 congressional votes, Congress adopted the “The Great Godfather Report: Crimes Against Public Administration and State Security,” which was carried out by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

“It is not an act of control, but clear destabilization,” said the government minister, Henri Cocalon, in a video. For his part, Laso wrote on Twitter that the approved report “lacks logical, evidentiary and legal support.”

Some audio files released by La Posta portal allegedly implicated Danilo Carrera, the president’s son-in-law, in a corruption scheme in public companies. Hernán Luque, the president’s former delegate to the board of directors of the General Company for Coordination of Companies (EMCO), was also allegedly involved in the plot.

Laso called on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to “develop all relevant investigations with thoroughness and depth.” He also denounced that the congressional report “contains irrelevant reflections on alleged acts of corruption,” but nonetheless asked the executive branch to “respond with the ‘swiftness’ of the prosecution’s requirements.”

The adoption of this report opens the way for the start of a political trial against the president, but to get there, there must be a formal request from a third of the members of the House, that is, 46 deputies.

After that, he will have to study the petition to the Constitutional Court to give the green light to its proceedings in Congress and so that the lasso can finally be removed, 92 votes are required, two-thirds of the members of the assembly.

Last June, the opposition failed in its attempt to remove the lasso by failing to obtain the necessary votes.