Calay News
A legislative commission in Ecuador has recommended that President Guillermo Lasso be impeached for allegedly undermining state security and bribery. The initiative stems from a 2021 police report that investigated an alleged relationship between Albanian national Dritan Gjika, who is under investigation for drug trafficking, and Ruben Cherres, a close friend of President Lasso’s brother-in-law. The commission also linked the president to other crimes such as organized crime, extortion, embezzlement, illicit enrichment, influence peddling, procedural fraud, and obstruction of justice.
The report was not approved unanimously, and an assembly member presented a minority document that was not discussed. The Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, has described the report as “a mamotreto” and “a document that has neither head nor tail, with no legal value whatsoever.” The commission’s report is not binding, and the approval of several instances in the National Assembly is required for the process against Lasso to continue, which may last about a month. If the Constitutional Court approves, the process will return to the full Assembly, which will require at least 92 out of 137 legislators to vote in favor in order to censure and remove the president from office.
