The Oversight Commission met this Thursday and scheduled the calendar for the process against the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.
According to the schedule, in 10 days the documentary, audiovisual and testimonial evidence must be practiced and on Friday, July 26, assembly member Jhajaira Urresta, who proposed the trial, and also Sommerfeld are expected to present their final arguments before the Commission.
Then, the legislative board will prepare a report and the procedure will continue in August in the plenary session, which has the final say on whether or not the Foreign Affairs Minister should be sanctioned and dismissed.
Sommerfeld did not attend the Assembly today and sent two lawyers and a Foreign Ministry official on her behalf, for which legislator Pamela Aguirre, president of the Commission, clarified that the impeachment trial is against the official and not against the entity.
Urresta, for her part, asked to demand the presence of the minister in the sessions to be able to disagree, dispute and debate the causes of the trial.
According to the assemblywoman, on April 5, with the assault on the Mexican diplomatic headquarters to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, the Ecuadorian State violated a series of constitutional, legal norms and international treaties.
The benches of the Construye movement and the Social Christian Party (PSC) announced this Wednesday they will not vote in favor of the dismissal and censure of the Minister.
“Preventing Glas’s escape does not merit dismissal,” Construye announced in a statement, although it recognizes that the Government of Daniel Noboa had other options before invading an embassy.
The PSC bench considers that beyond the validity or not of the grounds for the impeachment, a censure of the Minister can benefit Mexico in the lawsuit against Ecuador in the International Court of Justice.
Therefore, if the votes of these two groups are added to those of the official National Democratic Action (ADN) bloc, as well as allies and independents, at this time it seems unlikely that Sommerfeld will leave office.
Last night, the Minister spoke about the process and stated that she will go “firm and convinced” to defend herself, the institution and the country.
“Together with the legal team we will continue, with the truth, defending what was done, which is nothing more than fulfilling our delicate functions,” the official said in a statement on her social networks.
The assault on the Mexican embassy led to the breaking of diplomatic relations with Ecuador and complaints to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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