![]() During his rule, the former populist president reduced inequality but also harassed and spied on the press and opposition while accumulating more foreign debt. Moreover, Lasso’s legislative shutdown could well empower Correa. Instead of six months of strong government, the country faces more executive weakness as its challenges metastasize. Nonetheless, moments after the shuttering of the assembly, a Lasso minister told journalists that his government would take advantage of the moment to push through a lightning round of executive decrees.Įcuador’s powerful Indigenous lobby promises to launch protests if Lasso makes muscular use of his unilateral powers. High-level associates accused of corruption and links to organized crime have become fugitives and turned up dead.Īs of earlier this month, Lasso’s approval rating had sunk below 14%. Meanwhile, scandals have rocked his government. His only major legislation was a tax reform that exacted a heavy toll on the middle class. But he has since alienated those constituencies while failing to satisfy his conservative base. Lasso advanced to the runoff that made him president with less than 20% of the vote and narrowly claimed victory thanks to the begrudging support of center and center-left voters willing to overlook his conservatism to avoid a return of Correa’s illiberal populism. When popular presidents rule by decree, it can be dangerous when unpopular ones do, they court disaster. Given that his removal from office was nearly certain, Lasso’s decision to disband the assembly was politically rational but democratically perilous for a few reasons.įirst, Lasso’s move risks sapping state institutions of their already scant legitimacy. Nostalgia for Correa, who governed with an even if authoritarian hand, is growing. Worse, Lasso indulged in public tirades against opponents and journalists more befitting of his populist opponents. His government engaged in perilously little public spending even as it sat on unprecedented reserves as oil prices climbed. Lasso, with little previous government experience, has failed to curb skyrocketing crime or fight widespread poverty and hunger, which affects 2.5 million Ecuadoreans. Still, few expected him to survive the looming impeachment vote, which became a referendum on his presidency. About that, he was at least partly right. Lasso chalked it up to an attempt to destabilize his government.
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