The report on the investigation carried out on this case was not approved by the plenary session; he limited himself to asking the president to come to report.
After two months of discussions, appearances and threats, the political investigation of the case called Pandora Papers ended in an appeal to the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, because he could not demonstrate his direct or indirect relationship with assets and capital in tax havens.
An injunction does not have the force of law, but constitutes an invitation and it depends on the will of the official whether or not to go to the Legislature. For this reason, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, this December 8, announced that he will not appear, that he will send a letter to Parliament with the report of the State Comptroller General that ruled the file of the process for not finding elements that demonstrate that On the date of registration of the presidential candidacy and of his possession in said position, he was the direct or indirect owner of goods or capital in tax havens.
National Assembly does not approve report on Pandora Papers; he limits himself to exhorting Guillermo Lasso
On October 7, through a plenary resolution, the National Assembly commissioned the Constitutional Guarantees Commission, chaired by José Cabascango (PK), to investigate the Pandora Papers, after learning of the leak of documents by the International Consortium of Journalists from Investigation that revealed names of politicians and companies related to offshore in countries considered tax havens; including the first president.
The table’s report contained six recommendations. The first of them was to apply article 130, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, and proceed to remove the President of the Republic due to a serious political crisis and internal commotion.
The inclusion of this cause in the report led to the Democratic Left, the Social Christian Party and even
Pachakutik to rethink his support for what was approved at the table with six votes, amid criticism and complaints that there was a last minute alteration of the text. With the thesis of the removal of the first president, the correista bench Union for Hope (UNES) remained and in the plenary session it obtained only 51 votes.
On December 7, with 82 votes, with a third motion presented by the Democratic Left, the Legislature approved a resolution that is limited to exhorting the president to go to the plenary session to render his version of his relationship with tax havens, but not the approval of the report was raised, but rather that the investigation carried out be referred to the control bodies to continue with the investigation.
Juan Fernando Flores, from the ruling CREO movement, says that his bloc has a clear position against the Pandora Papers, even more so when the Comptroller’s Office shelved the entire process, because it was concluded that the president
He did all that was due before registering as a candidate and before assuming that position.
He insists that the report prepared by the Guarantee Commission was not approved by the Assembly and that what 82 legislators did is invite the president to go to the plenary session to clarify on assumptions to see if they are true or not, because it was never done an exhaustive investigation and no access to documents was obtained, everything was done based on a statement from a journalist who said she had not had the information since 2017.
While Pedro Velasco (BAN) points out that the Assembly made a new mistake when it dealt with the report of the Pandora Papers case, since it was not approved and, in the midst of desperation due to the lack of votes, they invented a resolution in which the president is exhorted to appear to render an account to the Assembly, and immediately afterwards an attempt was made to revive a report that died in the two motions that did not reach enough votes.
The coordinator of the UNES bench, Paola Cabezas, admitted that with the exhortation the president is not obliged to respond to the Assembly, but she considers that he is obliged to respond to the country about this case.
That what happened in the session of December 7 was almost sealed, because during the investigation the president and his family and economic environment decided not to appear in order not to give answers. Later, on the way, none of the control institutions gave information; and, additionally, the Prosecutor’s Office began an ex officio investigation of the Commission for alleged ideological falsehood.
“Everything was coldly calculated and coldly armed. If there is someone who wants to cover up President Lasso about the Pandora Papers issue, we already know who they are, and this was known in the voting, ”he said.
For Cabascango, the report on Pandora Papers continues its course, because there is a resolution asking the control bodies to carry out an investigation into the relationship that President Lasso has with tax havens.
He clarifies that as president of the table he always stood firm and that at no time has the removal of the president of the Republic been attempted, that rather what has been done is to ratify what was determined by the plenary session of the National Assembly on October 7 , which is the social commotion; but for a dismissal there must also be a political crisis, which has not been demonstrated.
The representative of the Democratic Left in Parliament, Johanna Moreira, points out that the resolution taken by the Legislative Assembly on the Pandora Papers case falls within the legislative powers; that they will not allow destabilization, but neither will impunity in the country; therefore, within what corresponds, he assures: “We have exhorted the President of the Republic to come to the plenary session of the Assembly and give answers to the Ecuadorian people about the Pandora Papers.” (I)
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