Iran Press/America:You are anti-legislators,” he said in an impassioned speech from the floor of the National Assembly in Quito. “I accuse you of trying not only to take down the credibility of the presidency, but that of democracy.”
Lasso, a former banker, is facing charges in the opposition-controlled legislature of embezzlement related to contracts awarded to state-owned oil transport company Flopec. He has denied the charges and cast them as politically motivated.
The contracts in question were awarded in 2018, three years before he took office. “There was no contract or addendum signed during my term,” he said, brandishing a copy of a non-binding report from the legislative oversight committee that found no wrongdoing.
Lasso, who is struggling with health problems and needed assistance to reach the podium, accused the opposition of manufacturing a “fictitious situation”.
216
Read more:
Ecuador prison riots leave 2 dead, 18 injured
