Muerte cruzada

In Ecuadorian politics, muerte cruzada (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmweɾte kɾuˈsaða]; 'mutual death', lit. 'crossed death') is the name commonly given to a mechanism governing the impeachment of the president of Ecuador and the dissolution of the National Assembly provided for in Articles 130 and 148 of the 2008 Constitution.[1][2][3]

Article 148 grants the president the power to dissolve the National Assembly, but only at the price of giving the electorate the opportunity to vote the president out of office. The mechanism requires that a special election be held following dissolution, in which a new president and vice-president and a new National Assembly are elected. The candidates elected – to both the executive and legislative branches – then serve out the remainder of the current presidential and legislative terms. A regular election for a full four-year period of office then takes place, in keeping with the normal electoral calendar.[4]

Article 130 provides similarly in the event of a successful impeachment of the president: a sitting president can be removed from office by two thirds of the members of the National Assembly (92 votes out of 137),[5] but if a president is removed in this way, fresh elections must be held to elect a new president and a new National Assembly to serve out the remainder of the current term of office.[1]

Thus, the "mutual death" aspect of the provisions arises from one key element: "in dissolving a branch of government, the other branch offers up its own continuity in office for the electorate to decide upon: in other words, elections are called with respect to both the dismissed branch of government and the branch that requested the dismissal."[6]

The muerte cruzada provision was introduced as a means of avoiding the protracted periods of political paralysis that had characterised Ecuador under previous constitutions.[7] It has been called both a nuclear option[8] and a plebiscite on the president's mandate.[9] A September 2010 judgement by the Constitutional Court described it as "a checks-and-balances tool that seeks to balance one branch of government against another".[10]

  1. ^ a b Cárdenas Cifuentes, Manuela (23 April 2020). "Impeachment in the United States and Muerte Cruzada in Ecuador: Analysis on the Legal Effectiveness of Both Figures". USFQ Law Review. 7 (1): 289–305. doi:10.18272/ulr.v7i1.1697. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ElPaís17052023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Qué es la 'muerte cruzada' invocada por el presidente Lasso en Ecuador y qué pasa ahora". BBC Mundo. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Ecuador deberá vivir un proceso eleccionario en pocos meses. ¿Guillermo Lasso se puede presentar a elecciones?". El Universo. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  5. ^ John, Tara; Pozzebon, Stefano (16 May 2023). "Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso fights for political survival as impeachment trial looms". CNN. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Análisis Muerte Cruzada 2021" (PDF). Corporación Participación Ciudadana. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Ecuador's President Ends Impeachment Proceedings Against Him by Dissolving National Assembly". Time. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Guillermo Lasso: Ecuador's President dissolves parliament". BBC News. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  9. ^ "En vísperas del juicio político en su contra, Guillermo Lasso disuelve el Congreso y llama a elecciones en Ecuador". Delfino. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  10. ^ Escobar, Lizeth (18 May 2023). "¿Existe grave crisis política y conmoción interna en Ecuador? La razón por la que el presidente Guillermo Lasso invocó la muerte cruzada". El Universo. Retrieved 18 May 2023.