National Congress (Ecuador)

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The National Congress (Spanish: Congreso Nacional ) was the unicameral national parliament and thus the most important legislative body in Ecuador . His successor is the National Assembly , which met for the first time on July 31, 2009 .

According to the 1998 constitution, the Congress consisted of 100 deputados and had its seat in the capital Quito . The MPs were elected to represent the provinces for a four-year term. Each of the 22 provinces had at least two MPs, and populous provinces received additional seats, most recently one for every 200,000 inhabitants. The province of Guayas had the most MPs with 18. The largest parliamentary groups in the National Congress at the beginning of the legislative period after the 2006 elections in Ecuador were : Partido Renovador Institucional Acción Nacional (PRIAN, 28), Partido Sociedad Patriótica (PSP, 24), Partido Social Cristiano (PSC, 13), Izquierda Democrática (ID , 7), Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano (PRE, 6), Pachakutik (6), Red Ética y Democracia (RED, 6) and Unión Demócrata Cristiana (UDC, 4). The President of the National Congress was Jorge Cevallos (PRIAN), first Vice-President Edison Chávez (PSP). PRIAN, PSP, PSC and UDC formed a majority coalition, which the PSP temporarily left, as the PSP, unlike its coalition partners, supported the convening of a constituent assembly by President Correa and did not actively seek to prevent it.

In Ecuador's parliamentary system, it is not uncommon for MPs to change parties or become independents during the legislative period. After the adoption of a new ethical code, MPs who left their parliamentary group or were expelled from their party could be stripped of their mandate and assigned to a substitute MP from the party in the legislative period from 2007 onwards. This happened in the 2007 legislative period as early as the first week of session, when two members of the Partido Sociedad Patriótica of ex-President Lucio Gutiérrez were expelled, one of whom was Ximena Bohórquez , Gutiérrez's wife (who lived with him in separate property).

The Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly 2007/08 , adopted at its first meeting day on 30 November 2007 a decree according to which the Congress was entering an indefinite recess so that the National Congress is currently de facto is not in session. After the adoption of the new constitution in a referendum in September 2008, the Legislative Commission of the Constituent Assembly initially continued to act as the legislature before the newly elected parliament met for the first time on July 31, 2009 as the Asamblea Nacional ( National Assembly ).

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ La Asamblea Constituyente de Ecuador suspende el Congreso de forma indefinida , El País , November 30, 2007 (Spanish)