On his second day in office, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, sent a bill to the National Assembly The Basic Law on Freedom of Expression and Communication. The list suggests that you sent Lasso Repeal of the Basic Communications Act (LOC) issued by the government of Rafael Correa in 2013 and amending it by the government of Lenin Moreno.

The new law will eliminate all the articles of the local organizing committee, except for those that promote national production in advertising, organizing state propaganda and the radio spectrum system.

This is the New Lasso blow to the legacy of Raphael Correa, who used the Local Organizing Committee to punish media and journalists opposed to his government. For this reason, the LOC has been dubbed “the law of the gag”. According to Fundamedios, a civil society organization that guarantees freedom of speech and the press, he was there 510 Penalties for media outlets and journalists under the regulations of the Communications Law in force.

The new law embraces international principles

According to the press department of the Presidency of Ecuador, the project that Lasso sent was drafted according to International principles of freedom of expression such as the Chapultepec Declaration and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Declaration of Human Rights.

In February 2019, Lenin Moreno signed the Chapultepec Declaration in front of a delegation from the American Press Association. They are commandments of principles aimed at endorsing democracy, freedom of expression and the press on the American continent. This declaration was signed by more than seventy heads of state.

The new law will be guaranteed, according to the Presidency of the RepublicFreedom of expression, communication, the press, the requirement of conscience, the preservation of sources and professional secrets In addition, it seeks to protect the sanctity of personal communication and to abolish the crime of defamation and violation of acts that harm honor.

Votes for the local organizing committee to be canceled

Ecuador’s law-making process provides for the bill to be sent to the Legislative Administration Council (CAL), the highest governing body for parliamentary debate. At CAL, members must qualify the project and send it to one of the 13 National Society standing committees.

In the commission, legislators discuss the bill and send it to the plenary session of the legislature. The bill is discussed twice in a plenary session and a vote is taken for approval. If the bill is approved, it is up to the executive branch, where the president can veto in part or in full.

In the case of law sent by the Lasso, 70 votes are required in a plenary session to pass. However, Lasso only has 13 legislators Belongs to his movement CREO. This It obliges him to make agreements with other bodies in Congress.

In the current assembly, The legislative group with the largest number of members of Congress is the group associated with Raphael Correa. The UNES seat consists of 49 members of the association.

reactions

On social media, journalists, lawyers and activists congratulated Lasso for sending the bill seeking to repeal the “muzzle law.” However, there are those who request that the project be discussed with the social organizations.

In an interview with a local radio station, Cesar Recourt, CEO of Fundamedios, stated that he “appreciates the first message in favor of freedom of expression,” but that he believes the bill generates two new laws: one on freedom of expression and one on freedom of expression, advertising and the distribution of photovoltaic space.

Regarding the bill, President Lasso hopes that the National Assembly will address it urgently “so that we can once again live in complete freedom in Ecuador”.

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