The official BAN proposed the reconsideration, which achieved 85 votes. But it was not possible to re-vote the censorship and dismissal of the three members due to the absence of Viviana Veloz (UNES). The PSC announced that it will present a new request for impeachment.
The Plenary of the Assembly dealt with the reconsideration of the political trial of the Judiciary, this September 8, 2022.
Note updated at 16:25 with the suspension of the second vote on impeachment.
The result of the impeachment trial of the Judicial Council remains in abeyance. The Plenary of the Assembly gave way to the reconsideration of the vote on the censorship and dismissal of Fausto Murillo, Maribel Barreno and Juan José Murillo; but did not vote on it again.
The reconsideration of this vote had been pending since September 1, 2022, when the votes to censure and dismiss the three members were not enough. Therefore, the occasion to review this vote was the session on September 8.
The official BAN caucus chose to propose the reconsideration from its side. Gruber Zambrano (BAN), who moved it, assured that it is necessary to settle the issue “for the unity and peace that Ecuador demands.”
His motion received 85 votes in favor, that is, it was approved. This means that the vote on September 1 is eliminated, and that the Plenary had to vote again in favor or against the censorship and dismissal of Murillo, Barreno and Morillo.
But here the controversy began. The president of the Assembly, Virgilio Saquicela, assured that Viviana Veloz (UNES), who originally proposed the motion of censure and dismissal, should present it again. But she was not present.
This generated criticism of Saquicela from assembly members who did not support impeachment. They pointed him out for giving UNES time to achieve the 92 votes to approve the censorship and dismissal.
Saquicela suspended the session for 15 minutes to consult with his advisers. Upon return, he confirmed his opinion and suspended that point in the absence of Veloz. So the point should be returned in a reinstatement, which should be fixed by Saquicela.
The Assembly will take its vacancy between September 12 and 26. In other words, the final resolution of the political trial would be left for the end of the month.
There are no votes
Hours before, Veloz herself assured that they would not request reconsideration because they only had the 87 supports they obtained in the first vote.
Veloz said that the 49 legislators who voted for abstention ” would have received perks , in a political transaction with the Judicial Council.” The legislator assured that between August and so far in September there have been 403 appointments of new officials, a part through occasional contracts.
In addition, he said that the Judiciary would be about to deliver 51 notaries under the figure of commission , supposedly related to the votes to save them from impeachment.
And he announced that part of the positions delivered would be the provincial addresses of Pastaza, Napo, Chimborazo, Los Ríos and Esmeraldas.
He also pointed to Assemblyman Edgar Quezada (Pachakutik, voted abstention). He said that the Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint against him for procedural fraud, which coincides with this negotiation.
A new political trial
But the peace for the Judiciary will be temporary. The Social Christian Party (PSC) has announced that it will present a new request for impeachment , in this case with new evidence.
These would refer to the leaked audios of the member Juan José Morillo, in which alleged interference by the Executive Function in Justice would be revealed.
This new process, if it is presented, should first go through a qualification of the Legislative Administration Council. In that body, the qualification of the political trials of the Minister of the Interior, Patricio Carrillo, and the former Minister of Health, Ximena Garzón, is pending.
In addition, the Audit Commission has just begun the process of the audit process against the seven members of the Citizen Participation Council, which will last approximately one month.
