Quito, June 3 (RHC)-- Guillermo Lasso, the right-wing former banker who became president of Ecuador in 2021, announced that he will not run for re-election in the early elections whose first round will be held on August 20th.

"Today, I will tell all Ecuadorians that I will not accept the nomination to be a candidate for the presidency of the republic... I do it out of respect for you citizens," Lasso said.  "When I decreed the dissolution of the Assembly, that decision allowed me to return to the citizens the power to elect a new president and a new assembly," he added.

In the last part of his 90-second video, Lasso swore he would devote the remaining 6 months of his administration to "work twice as hard" as he has done up to now.  

From the Carondelet Palace in Quito, Lasso thus expressed his decision through social networks, thus leaving his CREO movement free to choose the candidate who must complete the 2021-2025 period.  This comes after this right-wing politician dissolved Congress and called snap elections in May 24.

To do this, he used a constitutional procedure called "Cross Death" that allows the President of the Republic to govern without legislative counterweights for six months.