Stage set for Ecuadorian President or lawmakers to be booted out of office

A showdown between Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso and the Opposition-led National Assembly could result in either side being booted from office this week as lawmakers seek to try him for embezzlement and he mulls exercising his constitutional power to dissolve the legislature.

A showdown between Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso and the Opposition-led National Assembly could result in either side being booted from office this week as lawmakers seek to try him for embezzlement and he mulls exercising his constitutional power to dissolve the legislature.

Lawmakers will continue impeachment proceedings against the right-leaning politician on May 16 during a session of the unicameral Assembly that Mr. Lasso is expected to attend.

Political tensions have risen in Ecuador since Mr. Lasso, a former banker, was elected in 2021 and clashed from the start with a strong Opposition in the Assembly. At the same time, the South American country has experienced an increase in drug-related violence, including several massacres in prisons over the past two years.

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Whatever happens this week, the country’s overall instability will certainly deepen.

“The removal of the President, being an institutional earthquake in any democracy, will be an event that it will shake the country’s political scene,” said Ms. Laura Lizarazo, senior analyst covering Ecuador and Colombia for the global firm Control Risks.

This is the second time the Opposition tries to impeach Mr. Lasso, but last year it didn’t get enough votes.