REPLACEMENT CONGRESS SWORN IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000659 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS TAGS: PGOV PREL EC SUBJECT: REPLACEMENT CONGRESS SWORN IN REF: QUITO 554 Classified By: PolOff Erik Martini for reasons 1.4 (b&d). ¶1. Summary: (SBU) The festering confrontation between the government-backed Supreme Electoral Tribunal and Congress continued on March 20 as President of Congress Jorge Cevallos swore in 21 new replacement congressional deputies and then opened a new session of Congress with 52 members. Dismissed opposition deputies complained loudly but were prevented from entering Congress by a strong police presence. Dismissed deputies from the PRIAN, PSC and PSP are meeting separately to plan their next move. The PSP may propose forming a rival Congress in Guayaquil. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Under the cover of darkness, at around 5am on the morning of March 20, two chartered buses with police protection delivered 22 substitutes (note: every elected member of congress has a designated substitute, supported by the same political party) for the 57 dismissed deputies to the Congress building. Later that morning, President of Congress Cevallos (a member of Alvaro Noboa's PRIAN party), opened the floor of Congress for debate on the current political crisis, without formally calling Congress into session. The debate focused on the legality of swearing in 22 alternate deputies to replace enough of the 57 deputies that had been stripped of their political rights by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on March 7 (see reftel) to form a quorum. After several speeches in favor of swearing in the alternate deputies, Cevallos recognized the decision of the TSE removing the 57 deputies, and swore in 21 of 22 alternates (one alternate hadn't turned in his personal financial declaration),and formally opened the congressional session. ¶3. (SBU) The new Congress is made up of 31 deputies from leftist-populist parties (ID, PRE, Pachakutik, MPD, and a handful of single-seat parties),nine PSP substitutes, nine PRIAN substitutes and three PSC substitutes. Once sworn in, the new Congress debated whether to pass a resolution censuring the 57 ousted deputies. Cevallos, accused by his party of selling out to do the Correa government's bidding, justified his actions and maintained that he had never given in to political pressure, threats or, implicitly, bribes. The Congress then adjourned for the day without a vote. ¶4. (SBU) The ousted opposition members, meanwhile, squawked but remained on the sidelines. The PSC and PSP parties are rumored by the press to be caucusing in Quito, while PRIAN is meeting in Guayaquil. Alvaro Noboa complained from Miami that the substitute PRIAN deputies were not returning his calls. He repeated a proposal which originated with PSP leader Lucio Gutierrez, to revoke Congress's original resolution attempting to "substitute" TSE President Acosta in exchange for the TSE canceling its ruling to eject the 57 deputies. PSC Deputy Luis Fernando Torres accused "Comandante" Correa of "taking over the Congress" by ordering police protection for the alternates and paying for the buses that transported them to Congress. The opposition is aswirl with rumors about alleged deal-making between the Correa camp, Cevallos and the alternates; unsubstantiated assertions are that each alternate received $250,000. ¶5. (SBU) The Constitutional Court (TC) has agreed to review the case presented by ousted PSC Deputy Pascual del Cioppo. Del Cioppo requested the TC suspend four members of the TSE for six months to one year for acting unconstitutionally to strip the political rights of the 57 ousted deputies. Legal commentators note that del Cioppo may have filed too late - suits under the electoral law must be filed within five days of the infraction. In any case, the TC has 15 days to resolve the case and Cevallos has said he will respect the rulings of all judicial authorities on the current crisis. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Congress' quorum gives it the possibility of legislating, but apparently just taking office was enough for the first day. Cevallos' declaration that the newly-constituted body enjoys "full legitimacy" will earn him the ire of the 57 and presumably his party. Noboa's late return to the ring, via satellite, was typically ineffective. Divided internally by the turncoats, the PRIAN, PSP and PSC are facing a difficult choice--concede defeat and attempt to control the new congress through their substitutes, or form a rival body, muddying further the thick sludge of Ecuadorian constitutional process. ¶7. (C) Where does this leave Ecuadorian democracy? If the courts don't act first, then it will be up to the voters, who will decide on April 15 whether to risk all in an unbounded national constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution (and potentially dissolve the Congress or any other institution). Correa has basked in public approval for his willingness to challenge a discredited opposition. It remains to be seen if he may ultimately pay a price for his apparent political victory. The move against Congress could undermine momentum and support for the assembly and any new constitution it produces, although that does not seem to be happening at this point. End Comment. JEWELL