Congress Weighs Request to Try Ecuadorian President

Quito, Aug 28 (Prensa Latina) Congress leader Jorge Cevallos is meeting with congressional chiefs on Tuesday to analyze a request from the judiciary to try Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

The meeting will set the date to debate whether to lift Correa's immunity, so that the Supreme Court of Justice can try him, Cevallos noted.

He pointed out that there are different viewpoints, as some deputies are in favor of dealing with the issue after the elections for the Constituent Assembly on Sept. 30, but other wish to shelve the investigation.

Two parties, the Institutional Renovating Party (Prian) and the Patriotic Society (PSP) are the only political organizations in favor of trying Correa.

The other parties, including the Social Christian and Democratic Christian parties, oppose the trial, claiming that they do not want the country to become politically unstable.

Other political groups consider that they cannot accept the request for trial as a result of a denunciation from a person who lacks moral quality such as former advisor Quinto Pazmiño, who has accused Correa of allegedly slandering him.

According to the Constitution, 67 lawmakers must vote in favor of the trial and of stripping Correa of his immunity; otherwise, the trial cannot be held.