For the Reestablishment of Democracy in Ecuador.
Declaration of the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity on June 24, 2022.
NOTE: An Update from Telesur English.
The Union for Hope bench in Ecuador’s National Assembly asked for a discussion in Parliament on the possibility of dismissing Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso. The request comes amid an indefinite national strike led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) against the Lasso administration, in which five deaths have been registered so far.
The 47 Union for Hope (UNES) members announced their resignation from their seats in Parliament, looking for early elections. UNES legislator Marcela Holguín said via Twitter: “I, Marcela Holguín, assembly member for Pichincha, have just put my signature to advance elections in accordance with article 130, number two, of the Constitution.” The other 46 UNES legislators echoed this message, while Dina Farinango and Angel Maita, from the indigenous movement Pachakutik, CONAIE’s political arm, also joined the UNES initiative. On the contrary, the political parties Democratic Left and Social Christian Party (PSC) discarded their support for the UNES proposal.
Article 130 number two of the Ecuadorian Constitution legitimizes the power of the National Assembly to dismiss the president in case of severe political crisis and internal commotion. This requires 92 of the total 137 votes of the Assembly. The presidential dismissal process called cross-death entails the holding of early elections for both the Presidency and the National Assembly (unicameral Parliament). Assembly Speaker Virgilio Saquicela would have to receive a petition from 46 out of a total of 137 members of the legislature to make the dismissal request official.
Once the request becomes official, Saquicela must summon the Assembly in a plenary session 24 hours in advance and give notice to the President, who must exercise his right of defense before the Assembly’s debate. Under the cross-death mechanism, the president could dissolve the Assembly and rule for a period of six months through executive decrees, pending new legislative and presidential elections.
The Ecuadorian people, with the indigenous and peasant movement at the forefront, have taken to the streets to express their resistance to the adverse impacts of the extreme neoliberal policies implemented by the government of banker Guillermo Lasso. The peaceful nationwide mobilization is demanding from the government response to critical aspects that affect the people in their daily lives, such as the lack of employment and labor rights, a moratorium and renegotiation of personal and family debts, fair prices for peasant production, control of basic prices and an end to speculation, fuel prices, respect for collective rights, no privatization of strategic sectors and public patrimony, funds for healthcare, limits to mining and oil extraction, education for all and effective security and protection policies.
The government has responded with an aggressive intervention of the police, the army and with the declaration of a state of emergency in several provinces, which has resulted in five people dead, more than a hundred injured and other violations of human and constitutional rights. Moreover, in the face of the perseverance of the popular mobilization, Lasso has threatened even greater repression and the use of lethal ammunition. This, in the context of a state of emergency, prohibits the most basic constitutional rights, such as the right to assembly, association, free transit and even freedom of expression.
The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity expresses its support for the Ecuadorian people, their agenda of basic demands and their constitutional right to resistance. At the same time, it urges the government of the president, Guillermo Lasso, to:
- Repeal the state of exception, demilitarize the country and reestablish democratic institutionality.
- Respect the human and political rights of citizens, as well ending intimidating, racist and discriminatory actions contrary to the Ecuadorian Constitution.
- To analyze and give a prompt response to the ten-point agenda presented by the indigenous, peasants, women, students and other organizations, which includes essential aspects for the life of the citizenry, which are framed along the lines of basic human rights.
Mr. Lasso and his government should base their actions on the constitutional framework and respect the initiatives that are expressed in the other functions of the State, as is the case of the National Assembly, where proposals are being put forward to find a way out of the serious internal commotion that the country is experiencing, including ways to resolve the situation with votes and not with bullets.
The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity reiterates its solidarity with the Ecuadorian people, with the indigenous peoples and nationalities, with the popular, peasant, youth and women’s movements, in the hope of overcoming soon all forms of authoritarianism and retaking, through constitutional means, the management of their own destiny.