Three decades ago, election strategists did not recommend their clients – presidential candidates – to talk about corruption during the campaign. Among the arguments was that it is not a tangible problem like manual labor, that it is not a massive problem like poverty or unemployment, and that it is better to use the time on stage for something else (dance, controversies…).

This issue is not far for citizens who are increasingly looking for more control in government bodies, and the facts published by the media have led to investigations that show the country’s great losses due to corruption.

Yesterday, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CNA) proposed the eight candidates registered for the presidency of Ecuador to speak frontally, clearly state their proposals to clean up the public administration and the mechanisms they will have to return the stolen money without turning it into bribery, bribery and other crimes in “electoral goods “.

On the contrary, it is necessary that the candidate politicians do not avoid this problem, that they treat it responsibly and with clear determinations that enable citizens to evaluate them.

1,200 candidates are applying for the 137 seats in the National Assembly

Neither before nor now is corruption a topic that citizens are not interested in. State resources are at stake and those who apply to manage them must do so fairly, transparently and also ensure that what was stolen is returned.

On the justice side, a sentence has been imposed in several cases, and others are under investigation or court proceedings, but little has been recovered (6.5% as of April 2023). Last February, CNA proposed to implement a legal reform so that those convicted of corruption cannot be released from prison until they pay the sums provided as compensation and indemnity to the state. There is a tangible issue in which there must be obligations not only of presidential candidates, but also of those who want to reach the National Assembly. (OR)