National Electoral Council defines the rules of the game to elect the representatives of the IESS Council

The National Electoral Council (CNE) defined the rules of the game for the election of the representatives of workers and employers in the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS). Thus, representatives of at least ten sectors of affiliates and retirees and three sectors of employers will be in charge of choosing two pairs.

• To the binomial of the vowels by the insured, that will have a member of the active affiliates and one of the retirees, either as principal or as a substitute and who is unionized or non-unionized.
• to the binomial of employers, which will have the participation of a candidate representing unionized and non-unionized employers from different organizations and from different provinces.

Since This Tuesday, December 20, 2022, the regulation issued by the CNE came into force, having been published in the Third Supplement No. 213 of the Official Gazette 34.

This regulation was necessary to apply the Reform Law of the Social Security Law regarding the Conformation of the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute, published in the Supplement to the Official Gazette No. 181 of November 1, 2022. The Board of Directors For many years it was made up of members of workers and employers whose functions were extended and about which there were doubts of corruption; but they had also ceased to have the support of their sectors. Prior to this regulation, an election process had been carried out under executive decree 571 of last October 3, but only the current representative of the employers was qualified: Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez. Meanwhile, the possible qualification of Ramiro García, as a representative of the workers, was in dispute.

Now, with this new regulation that comes from the CNE, after several years it will be possible to proceed to an election of representatives with electoral colleges that include various sectors that were not taken into account before. Article 3 of the regulation indicates that the conformation of the electoral colleges will include different presidents or maximum legal representatives of organizations with legal status and of a national nature that are related or identified with social security issues.

These must be registered or inscribed before the authority or Ministry of the corresponding competent branch.

In its central part, the regulation indicates who will be the schools that elect the representatives.

For the insured there will be at least ten sectors. Before the reform, article 28 of the Social Security Law spoke only of the legally recognized trade union centrals, the National Confederation of Public Servants, the National Union of Educators, the National Confederation of Retirees, and the legally constituted organizations of affiliates. Peasant Social Security, the trade union centrals, UNE, Peasant Social Security. According to the new regulation they are:

1. Workers in dependency relationship;
2. Self-employed;
3. Professionals in free exercise;
4. Minors independent workers;
5. People who do unpaid household work;
6. Affiliates to the Rural Social Security;
7. Voluntary affiliates;
8. Retired pensioners;
9. Widow’s pensioners; and,
10. Orphan pensioners, among others.

Instead, for employers, that before they chose through the production cameras, now they will do it with representatives of:

1. Administrators or employers of a business;
2. Owners of sole proprietorships; and,
3. Private sector employers.

The regulation also indicates that the organizations with legal status that will be part of the electoral colleges to vote for the candidates for principal and alternate members of the Board of Directors must meet the following requirements:

• Being a social organization with a national or third degree scope of action.
• Be duly registered in the registries of the ministries or State portfolios that correspond to them.
• Demonstrate having a relationship or identification with social security issues;
• Have a legal life of at least ten years and proven activity during the last five years.

The regulation indicates that the information must be sent within a maximum period of 60 days, counted from the call for the respective elections, in accordance with the format established by the National Technical Coordination of Electoral Processes.

Each organization with legal status and of a national character will have the participation of one vote, within the electoral college that is established for the election of the members.

Once the list of the different presidents or maximum legal representatives of the social organizations that will integrate the electoral colleges has been sent, it will be published on the website of the National Electoral Council www.cne.gob.ec. This list represents the voter registration. Then there may be a request for rectification if there are observations and that must be submitted within a period of 10 days. The IESS must submit the final payroll within a maximum period of 30 days, counted from the request made by the National Electoral Council. With the definitive list, the electoral registry will be closed, and the National Technical Coordination of Electoral Processes will prepare the electoral rolls, for the insured and employers, for the election of the main and substitute members that will integrate the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security.

The next step will beThe National Electoral Council guarantees that voting is equal, periodic, direct, secret, to elect principal and alternate members of the insured and employers to the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security, through modalities such as face-to-face, electronic or telematics. (YO)