Quito, June 8 (RHC)-- In Ecuador, the ruling party Movement Creating Opportunities (CREO), led by President Guillermo Lasso, will not present candidates for the Presidency of Ecuador in the early elections to be held next August.

CREO's national coordinator, Esteban Bernal, announced in a press conference that the party will present candidates neither to the Presidency nor to the National Assembly.   Next June 13th is the deadline to present candidacies to the Presidency of Ecuador for the elections to be held on August 20th.  Late last month, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and called for extraordinary general elections to complete the 2021-2025 term. 

The "cross death" was adopted by the president invoking a serious political crisis and internal commotion, in the middle of the political trial for alleged embezzlement that he was facing in the Parliament. The opposition was demanding his dismissal.

The Ecuadorian president, who currently governs by decree, had already announced on June 2 that he would not seek re-election in the extraordinary elections.  "We align ourselves exactly in that behavioral line of decency that President Lasso has manifested and presented to the country. For that reason, we have decided not to present candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the Republic, as well as candidates for the National Assembly," said CREO's national coordinator.

According to the official, CREO will not endorse or sponsor any candidacy, in addition to leaving its militancy free to vote as they wish. Bernal said that the party will return to the political scene in the 2025 general elections, in which they will present their own candidates.   The new Government and Congress could be installed in November 2023 and exercise their functions until May 2025.