QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has backed off the idea of dissolving Congress and ruling by decree and plans to revise an austerity law that triggered a bloody police revolt, a government minister said yesterday.
On Thursday, as unrest flared across the country, Correa said he might dissolve Congress, which would have meant a call for new elections, seen as a tactic to bypass a deadlocked legislature and try to solidify his power.
“This measure is not part of the immediate scenario,” Policy Minister Doris Soliz told Reuters in an interview.
Soliz added the government planned to rewrite the austerity law to clarify it, rather than make any major changes. She did not rule out using decree powers if the Congress continued to block laws. “The option is there, it has no expiry date.”
Shoppers flocked to Quito’s colonial centre yesterday as life returned to normal. But heavily armed troops bolstered security in and outside the presidential palace after the police uprising threatened to end nearly five years of relative stability in Ecuador.
Correa vowed yesterday to round up and punish renegade police who staged the short-lived rebellion, and will investigate opponents he accuses of trying to mount a coup.
The police were angered by moves to cut bonuses and freeze promotions as part of nationwide spending cuts that Correa is trying to push through during a financial squeeze. The law takes effect on tomorrow.
