Ecuador: Guillermo Lasso restructured his Government portfolio and appointed new ministers

The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, restructured his Ministry of Government on Wednesday and split it up to create the portfolio of the Interior, appointed its new incumbents in those offices and thanked the outgoing Minister Alexandra Vela, who resigned on Tuesday night.

At a ceremony held this afternoon at the presidential palace of Carondelet, in downtown Quito, Lasso took the hitherto assembly member Francisco Jiménez in as his new Minister of Government and former police chief Patricio Carrillo as holder of the Interior portfolio.

The president explained that he decided to divide the Ministry of Government into two so that each area would assume specific competencies.

The Ministry of Government shall be responsible exclusively for political relations, negotiations of the Executive with the National Assembly (Parliament), with local governments and with social organizations.

The Ministry of the Interior, for its part, will be solely responsible for ensuring public safety, Lasso explained.

The ruler added that these appointments seek to “strengthen the ranks of the Government” and generate bridges of dialogue with the different parliamentary groups and social sectors, without neglecting the generation of citizen security strategies.

Discrepancies for “cross death”

The president finally thanked Alexandra Vela, who resigned Tuesday night as head of the Ministry of Government for discrepancies with Lasso, as he admitted in his letter of resignation.

Vela advocated the possibility of the Government assuming a constitutional prerogative known as “cross death”, whereby the Executive can dissolve the Legislative Assembly for one time, but calls for early general elections.

This possibility also allows the Executive to govern by issuing decree-laws, under the control of the Constitutional Court.

Vela considered that this constitutional clause could be applied after the National Assembly denied and archived a draft of the Executive to promote investment, considered emblematic by Lasso to conduct its economic development strategy.

Lasso did not refer to the discrepancies with Vela, whom he thanked, but said that dialogue will prevail in his administration as a form of management.

Bet on dialogue

On his side, Francisco Jiménez recalled that Guillermo Lasso's government is committed to citizens and democracy, so political management is not an easy task.

Jiménez stressed that “populist shortcuts” and “authoritarian illusions” may emerge from the political scene, but that the objective of the current administration is to create an “inclusive, diverse and prosperous country” that combats inequalities and strengthens institutions.

He also assured that the dialogue will be the strategy of the Executive, which will always have “open doors” and will put “the cards on the table” to speak with parliamentary groups, autonomous governments and all sectors of society.

On his side, Patricio Carrillo, a former police commander, said that the country has a “historic challenge” to ensure citizen safety and confront violence in the streets.

He called on Ecuadorians to join a “security pact” to face the threats of “narcocrime”.

It is the time when “social peace is the reason” of the work of the State” and that work is done on the “reconciliation” of the country, Carrillo said.

(With information from EFE)

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