Ecuador's Lawmakers File Impeachment Motion Against President Lasso

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - A group of 58 lawmakers of the Ecuadorian National Assembly, the parliament's lower house, have handed over to National Assembly President Javier Virgilio Saquicela Espinoza a motion to impeach incumbent President Guillermo Lasso, who is accused of corruption and administrative irregularities, the National Assembly said.

"The impeachment motion is formalized by 58 signatures of members of the National Assembly from various fractions. The motion was handed over to National Assembly President Virgilio Saquicela ... Once the text of the motion is approved, it will be sent to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, which will issue a preliminary opinion on its admissibility," the lower house said on Twitter.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly approved a report of a legislative commission that recommended launching an impeachment process against Lasso because of his suspected involvement in corruption schemes. The commission's investigation focused on Lasso's alleged involvement in a corruption scheme in state-owned companies, which the prosecutor's office called the Encuentro case, as well as leaked data from a police investigation into drug trafficking.

These involve the president's brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera Drouet, and Ecuadorian businessman Ruben Scherres suspected of drug trafficking.