In the last few months, Ecuador has been embroiled in political turmoil. In the face of a deep political crisis and plummeting popularity, President Guillermo Lasso eventually opted for dissolving the National Assembly on May 17. The Ecuadorian Constitution allows for the president to dissolve parliament once in his term, but stipulates that new presidential and legislative elections have to be held within six months. Electoral authorities have set the general elections for August 20.

Lasso was sworn in as president on May 24, 2021. The then 65-year-old conservative ex-CEO of one of Ecuador’s largest banks had run, for the third time, on a pro-business platform and on the promise of attracting foreign direct investment to the country. But analysts have noted that his campaign promises have not materialized, and that Ecuador has instead been sliding into institutional chaos and a dire security crisis.

In February, voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the Lasso government by rejecting all eight questions of a constitutional referendum that would have, among other things, allowed for the extradition of Ecuadorians and reformed the country’s legislature and courts. At the same time, the opposition came out victorious in local elections, with progressives winning important mayoral races in the two largest cities (Quito and Guayaquil), and gubernatorial races (provincial governors are called prefects in Ecuador) in the most populous provinces.

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