REACTION: Ecuador’s Lasso Dissolves Congress
By
AQ Editors
President Lasso invoked a never-before-used mechanism as his impeachment trial progressed.
Facing an impeachment vote, on May 17 Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso took the unprecedented move to call for a muerte cruzada, an option some have translated as “mutually assured destruction.” With this constitutional mechanism, Lasso dissolved Congress and can rule by decree until presidential and legislative elections are held within the next six months. Lasso cited a grave political crisis and social upheaval as reasons for invoking the measure. On May 16 he had testified in an impeachment trial related to embezzlement accusations, which he has denied. AQ asked...
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