Ecuador: Muerte Cruzada Keeps President Guillermo Lasso in Office
By using the controversial but constitutional tool of muerte cruzada, President Lasso avoids imminent impeachment and provokes dissolution of Ecuador's National Assembly.
In the early morning of 17 May 2023, shortly before the end of his second year in office and in the context of impeachment proceedings against him for alleged involvement in an embezzlement scandal, President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the Ecuadorian National Assembly by Executive Decree No. 741 due to "a serious political crisis and internal unrest". In the background is a power struggle between the executive and the legislature that has been raging since he took office and which severely limits the governability of the country. The National Electoral Council (CNE) must now set a date for new elections for the presidency and the National Assembly, which must be within a maximum period of six months.
