An indigenous movement wins the presidency of Ecuador’s parliament

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Guadalupe Llori, of the indigenous movement Pachakutik, won the National Assembly (parliament) presidency on Saturday, May 15, after obtaining the support of 71 of the 137 legislative members.

Legislator Mario Ruiz presented Llori’s candidacy after highlighting the need for reconciliation among Ecuadorians and to recover the credibility of the people in the National Assembly.

This task, he said, “can be undertaken by a woman who represents struggle as Guadalupe Llori”, a legislator from the Amazonian province of Orellana.

Llori, a lawyer who will lead the Assembly between 2021 and 2023, took office once she was sworn in by legislator Pierina Correa, who presided over the session by dint of having been the most voted candidate in the elections last February 7.

In her inaugural speech, Llori spoke of the need for a “social reconciliation in a country as divided as ours is” and asked to work “in an coordinated way: Executive, Legislative and local governments”, starting from the need to provide the country with an “effective, efficient and responsible” work.

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“We are going to legislate in an alternative way, where diversity, inclusion and citizen participation are the mechanisms of our legislative actions, inspired by the principles of equality, freedom, social justice, interculturalism and protection of nature,” she said.

She pointed out that the incoming government, which will be presided over by the center-right Guillermo Lasso, as of May 24, “must have the governance for democracy to prevail, which implies the diversity of visions and opinions, but with the same objective: the development of the country.”

“We are going to look for that true reconciliation because we need our country also to have that clear message that all the Assembly members are going to work together with the President of the Republic,” she noted, adding that what should unite the legislators is a commitment to independent and effective justice.

Llori’s appointment occurred one day after the installation of the session in which none of the proposed candidates got the vote to become President of the Legislative.

On Friday, the inaugural legislative session exposed the severe difficulties that the next head of state will have to govern, after the apparent rupture of the pact between his party CREO and the Social Christian Party (PSC).

Given the crisis, Pierina Correa, presiding over the session, ordered a postponement. The session resumed on Saturday afternoon, when Llori was elected. After taking office she presided over the session to appoint other executive heads of the Legislature.