The Chamber of Deputies again declared the extraordinary session in the intermediate room, where the draft resolution “By which an accusation is filed before the Chamber of Senators against the State Attorney General, Sandra Quiñónez Astigarraga, for the purposes of establishment of the political trial provided for in article 225 of the National Constitution.” It will continue today Tuesday at 14 hours.
Opposition legislators, plus the Colorado ruling party only have 51 votes and need 53 for removal. The two missing votes are those of the Liberals María de la Nieve López and Carlos Noguera. Both attended the session, after the return to face-to-face attendance was established last week. In parallel, nearby, a group of 50 demonstrators followed the development of the session with loudspeakers. At one point, there were incidents due to the refusal of two protesters to allow their bags and backpacks to be examined, which led to a brawl that did not escalate.
During the day, point 8 of the 11 of the accusatory libel was discussed. It addressed the Metrobús issue. Point 9 remains to be discussed; “Inefficiency and negligence in the budget of the Public Ministry”, point 10 are “Impunity and corruption in mayors and governorates”, while point 11 refers to other inactions. With this, they add up to four postponements of the extraordinary session. The delay is due to the lack of votes of the promoters of the trial. If approved, it goes to the Senate where there are 30 votes (out of 45) necessary to achieve the dismissal of Quiñónez.
Edgar Acosta, deputy for the PLRA, pointed out that the damage could reach US$50 million. In other words, the US$ 20 million that it has already collected plus the US$ 30 million that the company Mota Engil is claiming. This, as a questioning of the arguments of several Chartist legislators who defended the collection of an insurance of G. 40,000 million (US$ 5.8 million at the current exchange rate) as a point in favor of the Cartes Government.
Sebastián Villarejo, a national deputy for the Patria Querida (PPQ) party, questioned that the defenders of Quiñónez allege that the citizens, who are supposedly tired of this trial, must weigh, however, when interventions were to be approved in communes denounced for acts of corruption, they voted against. “We have denounced miserable robberies in a pandemic. If we cared about the people we would have voted in favor”, he commented. Edgar Ortiz, a national deputy for the PLRA (llanista), affirmed on his part that he received threats of escraches at his home. However, he waited for them with a barbecue but they never came to his house. “They put the groups, but they lacked the people,” he said ironically.
With this, the session will continue today, Tuesday, at 2:00 p.m.
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Bomb threat
In the morning hours, the rumor spread of a bomb threat in the Chamber of Deputies. Agents of the Special Police Operations Forces (FOPE) denied the information alleging that they carry out regular controls since last week.
Confusion of Edgar Ortiz
Edgar Ortiz, national deputy for the PLRA (llanista), was the target of questions during the session after an unfortunate intervention. He pointed out that he “is washing his hands like Judas Iscariot”, when the character he was supposed to allude to was Pontius Pilate.
crossing with journalists
Del Pilar Medina, national deputy for the ANR (chartist), once again had a crossroads with journalists. On this occasion, she showed the communicators that she had several “memory aids”. This, after the criticism she received for supposedly reading arguments dictated by others during her interventions.
Intermediate quarter of 20 minutes
The Liberals decided to request a 20-minute intermission to decide whether or not to continue with the extraordinary session. The request of the official Colorados was the sine die postponement, however, part of the liberal caucus decided to previously discuss what actions to take.
