(Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso on Thursday said he was exploring constitutionally legal actions to react to the rejection of an investment bill by the National Assembly.
In an angry video distributed on social networks, Lasso said opposition lawmakers refused to vote for the bill because he wouldn't agree to handing out cash or the management of assets like hospitals or power companies in exchange for votes.
“They're thieves and corrupt, it must be said clearly,” he said. “As the president of the republic, I'm obliged to find the best constitutional ways to achieve the opportunities you deserve” as citizens, he added.
Lasso, elected in April 2021, has the right to dissolve the legislature. While this would trigger early elections, Lasso could govern by decree in the meantime, with the country's Constitutional Court the sole check on legislation.
While not a part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Lasso was seeking approval of the fast-track bill to help attract private capital to a $30 billion project portfolio and create jobs in a country where close to 70% of residents lack a steady jobs.
The largely left-of-center congress, in which Lasso's conservative CREO party holds less than 10% of seats, voted 87 to 44 to reject the bill.
In the debates ahead of the final vote, leftwing opposition lawmakers warned of “privatization” and toll booths on highways, although some stretches of road have been privately managed for decades and plans to hand management of some assets go back to socialist former President Rafael Correa.
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