President Guillermo Lasso, with the dissolution of the National Assembly, considered in art. 148 of the Constitution, he not only temporarily closed the discredited legislative function to the core (whose negative image reached an unpleasant figure of 95.37%), but also opened the possibility for the Ecuadorian people, in a democratic exercise, to whoever solves the existing serious political crisis and internal unrest, with the appointment of new holders of executive and legislative functions, which will result from the elections that have been called for the completion of the remaining periods.

Presidential debate: other issues

Undoubtedly, it is an atypical process, because the time required to organize an election of this size is significantly reduced based on the imperative deadlines appearing in the Basic Charter and the Organic Law on the Legislative Function, which give these elections an express character, consequently risking that the discussion of ideas between candidates, including the dissemination of their proposals so necessary for the implementation of reflexive voting, replaced by the work of political marketers and “community managers” who abound in social networks, the purpose of which is to create images that are often empty of content, but with an enormous capacity to capture the attention of an unsuspecting audience which generously retweets anodyne messages, but with images that have an impact on certain segments of the population. This is how we enter the fields of “tiktoker” politics and its superficiality. In the end, for campaign strategists what really matters and doesn’t count are not the people, but the votes.

other factors

So, these are key elections that require the greatest responsibility and participation of citizens and, even more so, when the country is experiencing moments of deep crisis expressed in the GDP growth forecast for 2023 of only 2.6% (with a downward correction), the country’s risk greater than 1,850 points, which seriously threatens the possibility of financing the fiscal deficit, which – on the other hand – threatens to increase its gap in view of the projection of lower tax collection, the drop in the price and volume of oil production, the destruction of nature, for example, the potential devastating effects of the El Niño phenomenon and others factors.

from tumbling to tumbling

In these unfavorable conditions, the proper management of the public network becomes a decisive necessity to provide an effective response to complex problems such as the scourge of crime, which at the current rate of expansion could end up with a rate of 34 violent deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants; Unbridled corruption, economic crisis, unemployment, deterioration of public services, drug trafficking, deficiencies in health and education, unstoppable migration flow, etc., which turn the administration into a runaway horse.

Therefore, Ecuador must choose a statesman with sufficient capacity, firmness and autonomy to lead the change. There is no room for error. (OR)