Ecuador's congress fires judges

Al Jazeera, April 24, 2007
Ecuador's congress has fired judges from the country's highest court for reinstating 51 politicians who were sacked for opposing constitutional changes.

Byron Pacheco, the congressional vice president, said: "Nine members of the constitutional court have been dismissed," insisting their removal predated the court ruling on the politicians.

Opposition politicians have clashed with Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, over his plans to rewrite the constitution and curb the influence of traditional political parties who many blame for years of instability.

Pacheco said the judges had overstayed their congressional terms.

The 51 politicians were fired in March for opposing Correa's proposal for a referendum on whether to rewrite the constitution through a special assembly.

They were replaced by substitutes who gave Correa a majority in the legislature.

Silvia Salgado, a socialist politician and Correa ally who sponsored a bill to dismiss the judges, said: "The court showed its true political intentions yesterday."

"They just can't violate the constitution."

The reinstated politicians demanded their seats back in the congress on Tuesday, but said they would not block the assembly, which Ecuadoreans approved in a referendum earlier this month.

Ecuadoreans overwhelmingly supported the government-backed plan to set up the assembly that Correa hopes will curtail traditional elites, whom many voters blame for helping to topple three elected presidents in 10 years.