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With 104 votes in favor, 18 against and 12 abstentions, and in one session broadcast online, the minister was censored for non-compliance, which means her dismissal, according to the country’s constitution.
The Ecuadorian National Assembly censored and fired government minister, María Paula Romo, with her vote for her behavior during the October 2019 riots.
With 104 votes in favor, 18 against and 12 abstentions, and in one session broadcast online, the minister was censured for failing to perform her duties, which means her dismissal, according to the country’s constitution.
134 of the 137 members of the National Assembly participated in the vote, and at least 91 (two-thirds) were required for the approval of the motion.
Hard blow to Moreno
The dismissal of the minister is a severe political blow for the president, Lenín Moreno, as Romo has been his right-hand man since 2018 and the most visible face of the Ecuadorian executive.
The impeachment trial, the fourth to which the minister was subjected, was promoted by two independent members of the assembly, Lourdes Cuesta and Roberto Gómez, and by the correista Amapola Naranjo.
The process developed virtually with the physical presence of Romo in the Carondelet building, seat of the Executive, from where the minister defended his decisions during the demonstrations, in which a dozen people died and about 1,500 were injured, almost a third of them from the security forces.
Romo said his decisions were appropriate in the face of what he considered an attempt to destabilize the government and not “peaceful” citizen protests.
The minister was accused of using expired tear gas and throwing tear gas in “peace centers” or in the humanitarian reception, a terminology he flatly rejected in the defense he made in the morning.
Among his defense tests, the minister stressed that the tear gas used did not pose a health hazard despite their expiration date, and assured that “the police responded to the extreme violence that occurred in October 2019”.
In a message to the nation, Moreno complained that “the trial focused on the actions of the police in the violent days of October”, and defended that this “was prudent and measured, of democratic conviction under a serene leadership, and always firm of the Minister Romo “.
And he considered that “the decision of the Assembly” does nothing to stabilize the country after the various crises of recent years.
“Today the government loses a valuable official, the country loses the service of a courageous and committed citizen,” Moreno said, thanking Romo for his performance during the pandemic and his “defense of democracy”.
The president announced that Romo will be replaced by Police General Patricio Pazmiño, until now Deputy Interior Minister.
Peaceful protest or revolt?
The 2019 protests originated after a presidential decree that canceled historic gasoline subsidies and led to a national setback with tens of thousands of protesters on the country’s streets and highways.
Crucial roadblocks, seizure of strategic structures and clashes between protesters and security forces were the dominant note for eleven days, until Moreno repealed the decree.
Moreno and the cabinet ministers supported Romo’s leadership this morning by meeting in the Presidential Banquet Hall, from which he raised his defense before the parliamentarians.
There were also secretaries of state, senior police officers and officers injured during the protests in the room.
The decision received compliments from left-wing circles, who called it “arrogant” and “arrogant”.
“Despite all the attempts by some sectors to rescue a highly questioned government minister; from his attempts at arrogance, arrogance and intimidation, today the Ecuadorian people arrived late but in the end won,” said a statement from the Correist. Assembly member Ronny Aleaga.
“María Paula Romo’s inability, notorious confessed and public illegalities have been sanctioned; the person who ran the ropes of this country was fired; that improvised ability to rule has been withdrawn,” he added.
The dismissal of the minister is a reflection of the profound political schism in the Andean country, which on February 7 will participate in a general election in which President Moreno is not present.
The two main candidates are the center-right Guillermo Lasso and Andrés Arauz, who inherits the baton on the left from former president Rafael Correa.
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