The president says he will push forward without the Assembly to help Ecuador’s economy grow.

President Guillermo Lasso was consulted –this Tuesday, March 29, 2022– in the program Let’s meet with the citizens, which is broadcast from the Government Palace, about what tools his regime has to continue governing now that it seems that the opportunity for dialogue with the Legislature has been exhausted.

He said that he must govern “without considering that the National Assembly exists. It is evident that they want to block the government.”

Lasso insisted that he will use executive decrees and regulations and stressed that he does not rule out submitting the Investment Law project, voted down on March 24th by the Legislature, to popular consultation. He said that there were already five major projects sent to the Assembly and that only one has been approved, which shows the lack of interest of the legislators to legislate, and he said that “the Government cannot waste any more time by sending more laws to the National Assembly.”

“The Assembly has turned its back on all Ecuadorians, but I will do everything necessary within the framework of the Constitution and the framework of the law to make all the decisions that allow me to achieve all those objectives that Ecuadorians expect: to attract investment, to generate employment, and to reactivate the economy so that young people and women have an opportunity.”

The president stressed that he is keeping the doors open for ‘honest and respectable” assembly members, who do exist within the Legislative.

Regarding the eventual sending of the so-called labor law to the Assembly, Lasso pointed out that he maintains his commitment to socialize the project so that all the actors involved can review it, but he reiterated that “he has very little faith” in the institution.

“The Assembly cares little about the country… I give the example of last year when I presented a reform project to the Higher Education Law that had the objective of modernizing the system. Eight months have passed, and the National Assembly has not worried, not even dealing with the project… They are worried about the fights and their internal fights,” he pointed out.

When asked about the complaint of the five Pachakutik assembly members who had asked for economic benefits in exchange for consigning their votes for the Investment Law project, Lasso indicated that the complaints were made before their discussion in plenary and that they are not linked to the result of the vote.

“I will continue to make complaints frontally,” he added.

The president also ruled out any kind of pact with Correismo and with the Social Christian Party, whom he thanked for their support in the investment attraction bill, and mentioned that he will continue to respect the decision of the Ecuadorians who were the ones who chose the 137 assembly members.