President Noboa’s agreement with the RC will have certain costs, but it will bring him managerial benefits with the expeditious processing of his bills in the Assembly. In addition, the president will convene a public consultation to take advantage of the “honeymoon” that governments enjoy in their first months. Good strategy.

Strangely, neither the tax bill, nor the electricity bill, nor the proposed consultation involve significant changes that give the executive branch better tools to combat fiscal, unemployment, power, or security problems.

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The consultations focus on insecurity as a problem of repression, and the questions could be part of a law that the majority in the Assembly would adopt without objection. But repression is only the most visible part of the problem. The collusion of judges with criminals is the worst. The prosecutor reveals that a criminal with 17 arrests and 30 criminal proceedings who is at large and flaunts his wealth wants to kill her. The consultations should propose the abolition of the Participation Council and the Judicial Council, created by Rafael Correa to control the judiciary and appoint control bodies. And extradition, which would place international criminals under the command of a justice system they cannot intimidate. These are reforms for which there would not be a majority in the Assembly.

The tax and job creation law brings some benefits such as the laws on public-private partnerships and free zones. But it does not ensure the creation of jobs or solve the fiscal problem. Now big taxpayers have to pay 2023 taxes simultaneously and advance those from 2024. This contributes to the reduction of today’s tax gap, but does not bring any benefit to the new gap that is created this year. There are no measures that increase revenues, such as an increase in VAT, nor reduce current spending in the public sector. The creation of jobs involves a more flexible working regime. If it is not approved by the Assembly, it could be included in the discussion.

Do the consultations that President Daniel Noboa will carry out contribute to the country’s security? That’s what our columnists say

The Electricity Act makes it easier for companies to invest in their own production to reduce demand on the system. They are also trying to attract investments from private producers who will be able to sell directly to energy distribution companies, but proportionally to all of them. But many distributors are chronic defaulters. CNE, a public energy distribution company, owes $500 million to Celec, the owner of state-owned generators. It is no wonder that private parties interested in production want a trust of the distributor’s funds to ensure payment. Quito Electric Company, among others, claims that the measure is unconstitutional, and the Constitutional Court has been studying that claim since September. Without trust, there will be no investment of the desired size. Perhaps it would be to allow private manufacturers to choose clients and to reform the Constitution to allow for trusts.

The result is that once the two laws and the consultation are approved, the country will no longer be safer; there will still be an excessive fiscal deficit, the labor market will be depressed, and the electricity crisis that will return in October will not be addressed. These are timid proposals that do not go to the bottom of the problem. (OR)