Three of the officers requesting the impeachment, assembly members Viviana Veloz, Mireya Pazmiño and Pedro Zapata, demanded that the chief executive be notified “without conditions or delays.”

The intention to extend the prosecution against Lasso is evident, Veloz tweeted, and rejected the arrogation of functions and powers of the president of the Commission.

On the same issue, Pedro Zapata declared that he does not understand what the president of the Commission is playing at, with the man being accused of giving the defense 72 hours to present the inferences and evidence related only to the accusations of embezzlement, without mentioning the crime of bribery, which was dismissed by the Constitutional Court.

They argued that the decision was not taken by the entire Commission, as it should be, but only by its president, and they assure that there are no rules restricting or delimiting the supporting documentation of the political trial.

For the lawyer Marlon Martínez, the president of the Commission is acting in a biased way and seeks to boycott the procedure, “but the last word rests with the plenary session of the Assembly and they will determine” if the ruler should be removed or not.

The authorization to initiate the prosecution of Lasso for the crime of embezzlement has been in the National Assembly for a week and the accused is yet to receive a formal notification.

The Oversight Commission has 10 days to let the governor know about the process, and also to receive the evidence and requests for appearances necessary for his defense. Then, lawmakers will have another 10 days to evaluate those arguments and then an additional 10 days to release a report recommending, or not, the impeachment.

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