The president of Ecuador, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, announced this Friday that he will not stand for re-election in the extraordinary general elections, whose first round will be held on August 20.
In a speech at the Carondelet Palace, seat of the presidency, Lasso stated that he will not again be the presidential candidate of the CREO pro-government movement to complete the 2021-2025 period, interrupted by the “cross death” decreed by himself in May.
By resorting to this constitutional tool when the National Assembly (Parliament), with an opposition majority, was preparing to debate and vote on his eventual dismissal, the Ecuadorian president dissolved the Legislature and forced these extraordinary elections.
“Today, after deep reflection, I want to announce that I will not accept the nomination for the Presidency of the Republic for the August elections,” Lasso said in a speech in which he reviewed the two years he has been in office.
“Far above the position of president, I love democracy and the freedom that every Ecuadorian citizen enjoys to pursue their dreams, and if my duty as president requires me to step down from my position in order to help protect democracy, so do it.” I will do. Not once, but a thousand times, without fear and with a clear conscience,” he added.
Lasso, 67 years old, who will govern by decree until the new National Assembly takes office, explained that he will redouble his efforts during the time he remains in office.
“It makes no sense for me to campaign when the country needs me dedicated to the citizens, when there are still goals to achieve and challenges to overcome,” added the president, without revealing who will represent the ruling party in the electoral contest.
«Democracy and authoritarianism»
The Ecuadorian president warned that in the next elections Ecuadorians will have to choose between “two very clear options: either democracy or authoritarianism.”
“I am convinced that the democrats have ample possibilities to prevail, but no one can lose sight of the fact that in Ecuador there is a political sector that, although it is a minority, must be defeated and faced in unity by all the groups that love democracy,” Lasso said.
The Ecuadorian ruler thus referred to the left-wing opposition sector that promoted a censorship impeachment trial against him, which he again described as unfounded, and in which he was accused of being politically responsible for an alleged crime of embezzlement (embezzlement).
Lasso asks to stop “macabre plan”
Lasso stated that since he came to power he has been the victim of “attacks characterized by a single trait: institutional disloyalty and disloyalty to the Ecuadorian people,” through “political tricks that have violated the legal framework.”
«When two weeks ago I made the decision to dissolve the National Assembly to make way for new elections, I did not do it to avoid the trial, which very surely we would have won, but to stop this macabre plan of institutional usurpation that is still underway today, shamelessly in full view of all, “said Lasso.
The head of state was convinced that the Democrats “will prevail” in the elections against the authoritarian sector he points out, but warned of the need for unity after observing a large range of pre-candidates in Ecuador’s conservative spectrum.
Numerous pre-candidates
At the starting point are, among others, former legislator Fernando Villavicencio, security specialist Jan Topic, businessman and former parliamentarian Daniel Noboa, as well as former presidential candidate Yaku Pérez, who was about to go to the second round of the elections. of 2021.
The Citizen Revolution (RC), led by the leftist former president Rafael Correa (2007-2021), has not yet announced its candidate. That organization won the local elections in February.
Lasso called for unity and for each candidate to ask themselves if their participation in this electoral contest “increases or decreases the chances that democracy will prevail in Ecuador.”
Dear Ecuadorians: I will not accept the nomination to be a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic. I do it with a deep love for democracy and out of respect for you, the citizens.#OurWorkContinues 🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/H8BRVEGxhG
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) June 2, 2023
