Ecuador's Parliament Reschedules Vote of No Confidence in President for Sunday

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Ecuador's parliament had to postpone the vote of no confidence in President Guillermo Lasso until Sunday as lawmakers could not fit the impeachment debate into the eight-hour session on June 25, speaker Virgilio Saquicela said.

"Given the necessity of giving the floor to all legislator, the meeting is suspended and will be continued tomorrow [June 26] at 4:00 p.m. [21:00 GMT]," Saquicela said concluding the Saturday session, which was broadcast on social media.

The vote of no confidence was initiated by the opposition Unes coalition, aligned with ex-President Rafael Correa, in the wake of weeks of indigenous protests over economic and political mismanagement. The initiative was supported by the political arm of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), which has parliament representation.

On June 13, CONAIE launched small protests in 11 regions which gained momentum and escalated into unrest the next day, when the police detained the movement's leader, Leonidas, Iza on charges of interfering with the work of public services. The government declared a state of emergency on June 20.

Iza, who is facing criminal charges, demanded that the government ensure demonstrators' safety, lift the state of emergency, and withdraw troops in order to begin negotiations. He added that a document containing 10 demands, which the authorities had been ignoring for over a year, was still on the table.

Lasso lifted the state of emergency in six provinces during the parliament session on Saturday.