Why did Ecuador president Guillermo Lasso dissolve The National Assembly?

Ecuador’s president Guillermo Lasso exercised the Ecuador presidency’s nuclear option under the constitution in conflict with the legislative branch by dissolving the National Assembly on Wednesday, May 17 2023.

According to a decree published on the presidency’s website, Ecuador’s president invoked a procedure known as “mutual death,” in which the opposition-led National Assembly is dissolved and snap elections are called.

Armed soldiers then surrounded the capital’s National Assembly. Lasso had been embroiled in a battle with lawmakers who wanted to impeach him for failing to stop a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company, charges he denies.

The president’s decision to impose muerte cruzada allows Lasso to rule by decree until elections for a new president and legislative body are held. According to Ecuador’s Electoral Council President Diana Atamaint, the elections will take place within the next 90 days.

She predicted that Ecuadorians would go to the polls in 90 days to elect a new president and Assembly. Lasso’s decision on Wednesday prompted Ecuador’s top military commander to warn that any violence would be dealt with harshly.