President Guillermo Lasso signed executive decree 741 that gives way to the “mutual death”, and that allows the calling of elections to renew the Executive and the Legislative.
President Guillermo Lasso during his appearance in the Assembly, for the political trial against him, Quito, on May 16, 2023.
This May 17, President Guillermo Lasso confirmed on a national network that he signed Executive Decree No. 741 with which he dissolves the National Assembly and gives way to ‘mutual death’.
The mechanism, created in the Constitution of the Rafael Correa administration, allows calling elections to renew the Executive and Legislative powers. It is the first time that it will be applied in the country.
The measure comes one day after the start of the impeachment trial against the President, which is being processed in the Assembly and for an alleged embezzlement in the public company Flopec.
He added that since the beginning of his administration, the National Assembly has been obsessed with ending his government. And he accused the Legislature that his only political project has been “the destabilization of democracy and the State.”
In this sense, the President affirmed that the application of the mutual death “will give back to the people the ability to decide” about their future.
Also, according to Lasso, it will allow the Government to make changes in the public administration, which, he assured, were prevented by the legislative bloc.
“As of today, the Government will issue a series of decrees of law that comply with the express mandate of the people,” said Lasso.
One of these, indicated the President, is the signing of the Economic Urgency Law decree, to reduce taxes.
What does the decree say?
According to article 1 of decree 741, the decree is justified by the “serious internal commotion” that Ecuador is experiencing.
And in its article 2, it is provided that the National Electoral Council (CNE) be notified so that it can call elections within a period of seven days, as established in article 148 of the Constitution.
Precisely, the mechanism will allow the renewal of the authorities of the Executive and Legislative power.
While in article 3, the Executive orders to notify the Assembly about the termination of their functions, and of the contracts of the legislative personnel.
Furthermore, this provision does not include redress or compensation for legislators or Assembly staff.
The document has already been published in the Official Gazette.
“The country does not stop”
After dissolving the Assembly and decreeing the cross death, President Lasso met with members of his closest team, including Vice President Alfredo Borrero.
He also wrote in his Twitter message that “the country does not stop”. Public services work normally.
The members of the ministerial Cabinet were called to the Carondelet Palace which, unlike the Assembly, does not have a strong military guard.
The ministers will meet with the president. Darío Herrera, Minister of Public Works, reiterated Lasso’s thesis that the Assembly boycotted the Government’s management. “We are solving the problems of the Ecuadorian people, and the people will decide in due time.”
The Minister of Labor, Patricio Donoso, announced that the labor reform could be approved by means of a decree law. “Today the president will resolve,” he said before entering the meeting with the president.
Fernando Santos, Minister of Energy, on the other hand, explained that the intention of the government with the decree laws that are issued from now on will be to “debureaucratize Ecuador, which was handcuffed by correista laws, by correista infiltrators and by an obstructionist Assembly that never issued a law for the benefit of the country.
“We are not going to allow road closures”
After the death cross decree, the governor of Azuay, Paúl Carrasco, reported that President Guillermo Lasso’s disposition is that activities in the provinces continue normally. “We are going to concentrate on security,” he explained.
Before the announcement of different organizations that are preparing mobilizations, Carrasco warned that ” we are not going to allow the closure of roads and the obstruction of normality.”
The activities in Cuenca are fulfilled without setbacks this Wednesday. Calderón Park, where the Azuay Governor’s Office is located, remains clear.
The local authorities, the mayor Cristian Zamora and the prefect Juan Cristóbal Lloret, have not ruled on the cross death. Meanwhile, the directors of the productive unions hold meetings with their peers at the national level.
