Appointed in the elections on August 20, 2023, the four-year terms of parliament members and presidential candidates that began in May 2021, i.e. until May 2025, would end.

Reference dates: August 20, 2023, the election of members of the assembly and the first presidential round – assuming that the second round takes place -; and on October 15, 2023, the second round. In November, credentials will be delivered to the selected couple.

The President and Vice President shall remain so until the handover of power to those elected to take office on May 24, 2025. The members of the Assembly elected on August 20, 2023 shall be replaced by those elected in 2025.

When should there not be a second round of presidential and vice presidential elections? Article 161 of the Democratic Code states that the couple will be elected by an absolute majority of valid votes (half plus one), or if the couple that won first place receives at least forty percent of the valid votes and a difference of more than ten percentage points, to the vote obtained by the couple that is located in another place. That is, if the one with the most votes has 40% of valid votes; and, the second does not reach 30%, there is no second round.

In addition to the days that need to be adjusted, the presidential podium and members of the assembly to be elected from August to October 2023 will be in the order of 18 months, a year and a half. Asked, Are the political forces that propose candidates satisfied?

I think not those who assume they have a chance to win. That is why there is talk of repeating the formula of wanting a new Constitution, either with a text for voting with consultations, or through the Constituent Assembly, which was followed by the governments of José María Velasco Ibarra and the first term of Rafael Correa.

(…) they would complete the four-year mandate of the members of the assembly and the presidential binomial, which began in May 2021…

What do citizens want? Give priority to electoral political processes, so that the table is kicked from the beginning; and then go to solutions that face everyday problems: lack of security, lack of productive investment, deterioration of material conditions and lack of resources to care for the health of Ecuadorians, floods and additional risks of the days we live in?

The political use of the protective lawsuit filed by the judge from Yaguachi in favor of Mr. Glas, supposedly to strengthen him in his political rights, should not be surprising at all. The protection action – long before this event and in dozens of cases, in business and other areas – was prostituted. Well, although it may seem belated, the recent decision of the Constitutional Court on the urgent prosecution of acting judges for embezzlement, when the conditions that would enable this have not been met, even with the possibility of the offense being prosecuted as a flagrant crime.

In those who favor protective actions and other legal crimes, there is mention of the released VIP, the list of the accused and even the legally convicted, organized crime, illegal trade, murders, embezzlement. Some came out and were killed. The case with the most publicity in May 2023 was that of Júnior Roldán, who was killed by an escort in Colombia. (OR)