Ecuador’s electoral council sets presidential poll for August 20
Ecuador’s National Electoral Council has announced that snap presidential elections will be held on August 20 after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree last week and brought forward the vote scheduled for 2025.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso speaks during a session of the National Assembly where opposition lawmakers are seeking to try him on charges of embezzlement in Quito, Ecuador, Tuesday, May 16, 2023 (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
The Associated Press
QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador’s National Electoral Council announced on Tuesday that snap presidential elections would be held on August 20 after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree last week and brought forward the vote scheduled for 2025.
Lasso’s decision to dissolve the opposition-led legislature came as lawmakers sought to impeach him for failing to end a deal between the state-owned tanker and a private tanker company, charges he deny.
In dissolving the assembly, the president first used an option offered to him by the constitution in conflict with the legislature.
Elections were to be called within three months, for both the assembly and the presidency, and the winners will serve what would otherwise have been the remainder of those elected’s terms. If there is no absolute winner, a second round will take place in October.
Lasso can choose to run for president. In the meantime, he can rule by decree for up to six months.
Ecuador’s Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed several challenges seeking to invalidate Lasso’s decree dissolving the National Assembly.
Lasso, a 67-year-old right-wing ex-banker, took power in May 2021 for a four-year term after winning the general election.
ABC News
