Alianza País is not the only political party in disarray as opposition snipes at each other

Although media coverage has focused on the disagreements within the ruling Alianza País party in recent weeks, the conservative opposition Creo and SUMA coalition is also arguing among themselves.

Creo.SUMA leaders in happier times. (El Comercio)

Defeated Creo presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso is accusing members of his coalition of “going soft” in the early days of the Lenin Moreno presidency. “We are losing our fire, and we are losing our meaning as a movement,” Lasso said Friday. “We still have an important fight on our hands but I don’t see much willingness to engage.”

Creo and SUMA split ranks on a National Assembly vote that prohibits public officials and candidates for public office from keeping money in offshore “tax havens.” Creo assemblymembers voted against the bill while SUMA members joined Alianza País in supporting it.

“The coalition has not implemented the principles that inspired it as was demonstrated in yesterday’s vote,” Lasso said on his Twitter account. “What happened to the discipline?”

SUMA leader Guillermo Celi responded that members of his party are maintaining their allegiance to party principles but are also listening to the people who elected them. “We are here to serve the people of Ecuador, not an inflexible political cause,” he said.

He added: “The SUMA movement ratifies its commitment to act responsibly in the National Assembly, and to work in concert with the proposals formulated in the electoral campaign. But always, the people come first.”