EspañolEcuador’s ruling party PAIS Alliance (AP) has announced that it will instruct its legislators to comply with the request made by Vice President Jorge Glas and vote to strip him of his immunity so that he can be investigated in the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
Alianza PAIS called on congressmen “to act accordingly with the request made by the Vice President and to adhere to any request that will facilitate the investigation in order to reveal the truth to the country, and if necessary, that Parliament grant the necessary authorization.”
Party leaders said they maintain their “confidence and total support for our fellow Vice President Jorge Glas.”
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“We have made public our concern regarding the attempt to involve [Glas] in an alleged illegal association in the Odebrecht case, based on simple indications that do not in any way demonstrate a causal relationship between the alleged wrongdoing and the conduct of the vice president,” the statement added.
“We are confident that Ecuador’s justice system will find and properly judge those guilty of corruption crimes by investigating impartially, acting according to the law, respecting the principles of legality and due process and without putting any pressure whatsoever on political organizations, the other functions of the state and the media, but simply allowing the justice system to do its job. Our party’s leadership rejects the media lynching of which our colleague Jorge Glas is the victim. ”
La Dirección Nacional de Alianza @35PAIS ante la solicitud de la @FiscaliaEcuador ➡https://t.co/2YFokLKL5W⬅ pic.twitter.com/oGqP0IpvT1
— MOVER (@35MOVER) August 23, 2017
AP made the statement following the attorney general’s request to investigate Jorge Glas in connection to the Odebrecht corruption scandal. In order to do that, Ecuador’s Parliament must give its consent with at least 92 votes. AP currently holds 75 of the 137 seats.
Ecuadorians are asking that investigators also target former President Rafael Correa. The group Cauce Democrático, led by former President Osvaldo Hurtado, has argued that a dozen of Correa officials were prosecuted for corruption.
“There was plenty of evidence that there were multiple acts of corruption in public units under the control and authority of Vice President Glas involving ministers and managers who were subordinate to his authority, including a relative of his, who depended financially on it until he joined the Correa government,” a statement by Cauce Democrático read.
Sources: La República; Extra; La República.