ECUADOR’s President Guillermo Lasso said he is “outraged” at the constitutional court allowing his impeachment trial to proceed.

“Democracy is strengthened by more democracy, that’s why I respect the decision of the constitutional court, even if I don’t agree with it,” he said yesterday on national television, adding the trial “has no rhyme or reason”.

“It bothers me, it offends me, it outrages me that they are trying to assassinate my reputation and that of my home.”

On Wednesday, Ecuador’s constitutional court authorised Congress to open an impeachment trial against the right-wing president, who is accused of crimes against state security and corruption.

The court approved the government’s request for a trial by a majority of six votes to three.

Lasso will have to present his case before parliament, where his critics will need a two-thirds’ majority to secure his impeachment.

His opponents called for his removal after the online newspaper La Posta published allegations of irregularities in the appointment and distribution of contracts to companies in the electricity sector.

One of the people implicated in the scandal is Lasso’s brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera.

Lasso has argued that the case for which he will be prosecuted took place between 2018 and 2020, before he became president.

Opposition MPs have accused Lasso of being aware of the scheme and not having intervened in time at the beginning of his term in May 2021.

They tried to remove Lasso from office in June 2022, but failed to gather enough votes. – AFP, March 31, 2023.