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Ecuador Congress fires judges who reinstated ousted lawmakers
AFP
QUITO
Petroleumworld.com 04 25 07Demonstrators took to the streets Tuesday as a power struggle dividing both the legislature and the judiciary over President Rafael Correa's reform program devolved into a sweeping constitutional crisis.
A prosecutor ordered the arrest of 24 deputies, nearly half of the 50 who the Constitutional Tribunal, the country's highest court, ordered reinstated to Congress after they were sacked in March over their refusal to go along with far-reaching constitutional reforms promoted by Correa.
The 24, who had yet to re-occupy their seats, were accused of plotting against the state, said judge Elsa Sanchez.
According to prosecutor Elsa Moreno, the deputies were suspected of sedition for "rising against the government, refusing to recognize the constitution, and impeding a meeting of the Congress."
The accusation came following Congress's dismissal of the country's nine Constitutional Tribunal justices after they reinstated the 50 lawmakers who had opposed Correa's constitutional reforms.
The 50, and seven others who had yet to seek reinstatement, were dismissed on March 7 for rejecting a court decision backing a national referendum on holding a constitutional convention to rewrite the country's charter.
With the political opposition out of the way, in April voters approved the convention by a five-to-one margin, giving Correa the go-ahead in his effort to revamp the legislature and other government structures to pursue his nationalist, socialist agenda.
But the battle has opened a new political crisis for Ecuador, a chronically unstable country that has had eight presidents in a decade.
Outside the Congress, some 400 pro-government protestors rallied against the expelled legislators, with police firing tear gas in sporadic confrontations.
"The entire country is near war," said leftist party leader Gustavo Ramirez.
The crisis saw Correa on a collision course with the high court for reinstating the deputies, with Correa backing Congress's vote Tuesday to oust the judges.
"The nine members of the Constitutional Tribunal have been dismissed," said congressional vice president Byron Pacheco, insisting the motion to remove them predated the court's ruling on Monday.
Pacheco said the judges had overstayed the term for which Congress had elected them.
While Correa rejected Monday's court ruling and insisted the ouster of the opposition lawmakers remain in force, late Tuesday he said he opposed the arrest order for the 24 accused of sedition.
He said he would tell the authorities to rescind the arrest order, "as the one responsible for the peace of the people."
Opponents of the president claim Correa is following in the footsteps of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez.
The firebrand Venezuelan leader successfully pushed for the election of a constituent assembly packed with his supporters in 1999.
Following the April 16 referendum, Ecuadorans will be called to elect later this year a national assembly that will be tasked with writing a new constitution.
AFP 25 0106 GMT 04 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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