Ecuadoran President Lucio Gutierrez Saturday lifted a state of emergency in the country's capital after Congress scheduled a special session to discuss the political crisis prompted by mass protests against recent judicial reforms.
"We have fulfilled the primary goal to suspend the Supreme Court of Justice," Gutierrez said, announcing on television an end to the state of emergency decreed Friday that saw members of the Supreme Court removed.
The president's decision came after a meeting with Congress Speaker Omar Quintana, judicial advisers and military commanders.
PHOTO: EPA
Gutierrez's emergency declaration had curbed individual liberties and empowered the government to take extraordinary measures to quell unrest in Quito.
In a televised address to the nation Friday, Gutierrez justified the drastic measures saying he had been compelled to do so to maintain calm and stability in the country. But opponents swiftly criticized the president's move as worthy of a dictator, and legal experts said they did not believe he had the authority to dissolve the high court by decree.
"We are informing the legislators one by one so that they attend the extraordinary session in Quito this Sunday," Quintana said. The 100-member Congress had been set to meet Tuesday to discuss the future of the court.
"At the moment the country is without a Supreme Court," said Ecuador's Justice Minister Oscar Ayerve as he urged lawmakers to find a mechanism as they meet that will allow a new, independent judiciary to be designated.
But many Ecuadorans drove through Quito's main streets sounding their vehicles' horns in protest, as around 200 police and soldiers were posted around the government headquarters.
Opponents called for Gutierrez's resignation. Vice President Alfredo Palacios, running mate to Gutierrez in the 2002 election, added his voice in opposition. "I reject, as much as anyone, the dictatorial state of affairs that the Ecuadoran people are being subjected to."
"Lucio has taken off his mask and has shown himself to be a complete dictator," said Carlos Solorzano, a former Supreme Court chief justice, who said the president had violated the Constitution and had no power to shut down the court.
Solorzano and others, including former president Leon Febres Cordero, said only the legislature could dissolve the high court and name a new one under Ecuador's Constitution.
But the armed forces expressed support for Gutierrez. Vice Admiral Victor Hugo Rosero, the chief of the joint command, said the sole aim of the state of emergency was "to recover the peace and order lost in the last few days."
In a statement, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his concern and called for a constitutional and peaceful solution to the crisis.
"The Secretary General is following with concern the latest developments in Ecuador," spokesman Fred Eckhard said. "The present crisis may aggravate an already unstable situation."
Gutierrez had said Friday he would not allow lawmakers to reform the Supreme Court through a simple congressional resolution, insisting that new changes should take place after consulting the people.
Several labor unions have launched a series of 24-hour strikes, blaming the president for attempts to manipulate the court to consolidate his power. Some schools have closed, but banks have remained open.
Protesters have been infuriated by the Supreme Court's decisions not to put on trial former presidents Abdala Bucaram, who ruled Ecuador from 1996 to 1997, and Gustavo Noboa, president from 2000 to 2003.
Bucaram had lived in exile in Panama, while Noboa had found refuge in the Dominican Republic.
But the court decision allowed the former leaders, both allies of Gutierrez, to return to Ecuador in early April.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS