Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso, dissolved the country’s legislature Wednesday to dodge an impeachment vote he appeared bound to lose. He invoked a previously untested constitutional provision known as “muerte cruzada,” or “mutual death,” which permits the president to send lawmakers packing and rule by decree while facing new elections within 90 days.

Lasso claimed to be defending not just himself but the country’s democracy, saying: “This is a democratic decision, not only because it is constitutional but because it returns the power to the Ecuadorean people.” But that argument wilts under scrutiny.