Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso, a wealthy former banker who’s popular among investors, found a way to fend off almost certain impeachment by the opposition-controlled congress: He dissolved the body. That set off Article 148 of the country’s constitution, a provision known as “mutual death,” which means new elections for president and the congress. In the meantime, Lasso rules by decree. Fears of a return to socialist rule and nationwide protests sent Ecuador’s bonds into a tailspin, leaving them deep in distressed territory.
What is a “mutual death” provision?
It’s the colloquial name of a clause introduced in Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution that allows Lasso to dissolve congress at the cost of his own job, since it triggers both presidential and legislative elections. The clause, never before used, was designed to avoid period of protracted political paralysis in the country.
