QUITO - Ecuador's Vice President, Ms Rosalia Artcaga, yesterday was appointed head of a caretaker government that brought an end to the political crisis provoked by the voting out of power of the flamboyant president, Mr Abdala Bucaram.
Mr Bucaram, nicknamed "El Loco" (The Madman), stepped down early yesterday just six months after he won office democratically, driven out by a paralysing strike and a revolt in the Congress.
A smiling Ms Arteaga, a 40 year old lawyer and former education minister, gave a brief speech at the ornate Carandelet presidential place, saying Ecuador "fortunately found a constitutional solution" to a crisis that had put it "on the edge of the abyss". Acknowledging she would head a brief transitional government, she later told a news conference that "order has been restored. .. the country is not paralysed... we can guarantee security."
Legislators said Congress would meet tomorrow to pass legislation allowing it to reappoint its leader, Mr Fabian Alarcon, as president, with Ms Arteaga returning to the vice presidency.
Mr Alarcon (50), would in turn serve as interim head of state until August 10th, 1998, then hand over power to a new president chosen in general elections to be held in May or June next year, a vote the ousted Mr Bucaram promised to play a role in. Mr Arteaga's appointment resulted from late night talks between legislators and military leaders who, political sources said, were reluctant to back any deal that had no legal standing.
In a joint statement the armed forces and national police reiterated "unyielding democratic vocation and absolute respect for the Constitution." Mr Alarcon was initially voted in as president by Congress on Thursday after two days of demonstrations protesting against Mr Bucaram's austerity plan led to the dismissal of Mr Bucaram for "mental incompetence". With a Constitution vague on the issue of succession, three people - Mr Bucaram, Ms Arteaga and Mr Alarcon - all claimed the presidency, and leading legislators turned to the armed forces as the final arbiter.