Ecuador enters the final stretch to elect its new ruler

The Ecuadorians This Monday they enter the final stretch of an electoral process that seeks to define the replacement of the conservative president Guillermo Lassoa position disputed by the correísta Luisa González and the businessman Álvaro Noboa.

With less than a week to go before the runoff between the two and with a starting holiday, both candidates are burning their last proselytizing cartridges before the crucial vote contest that will take place next Sunday.

This last Sunday of the campaign, the proselytizing noise was low in intensity in the streets of the big cities, due, in part, to the fact that the country enjoys a three-day holiday, since this Monday commemorates the 203rd anniversary of the colonial Independence of Guayaquil, the Pearl of the Pacific.

The bulk of the electoral advertising of the two candidates has been concentrated on social networks, where an all-out political battle takes place with mutual accusations of “dirty campaign.”

González, who appears as a bishop of former progressive president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), has not hesitated to describe “dirty campaign” a statement by conservative politician Fredy Bravo, who accused her of having funds in tax havens, which is prohibited to be a presidential candidate in Ecuador.

According to her, these are “provocations” that occur precisely at the end of the electoral campaign to try to stop it in its desire to win the vote of Ecuadorians.

González even urged Bravo to prove his accusation with evidence or face the consequences, as he said he was willing to take the case to court.

“Say no to the dirty campaign”promoted Daniel Noboa on his social networks, the heir to an economic empire led by his father, the banana magnate Álvaro Noboa.

The candidate has agreed that the priority of his management, if he becomes President, will be to overcome “firm hand” to crime, one of the scourges that plague a country immersed for just over two years in an unprecedented escalation of criminal violence.

The electoral campaign for the second round will conclude next Thursday and it is expected that the two candidates will close their proselytizing processes in the main cities such as Quito and Guayaquil.

Between next Friday and Sunday, Ecuador will undergo a period of electoral silence so that the more than 13 million voters eligible to participate in the political contest can consider voting.

On Thursday, the ballot is scheduled to begin with the reception of votes in the country’s prisons with the inmates who have a final sentence (executory); while on Friday the “Vote at Home” day will be held for the elderly and people with disabilities who have signed up to exercise these rights in their homes.

In parallel, next Sunday the election of legislators in foreign jurisdictions will be repeated, a vote that was annulled due to problems with the telematic vote applied for the suffrage of compatriots residing in other countries during the first round on August 20. .

Ecuadorian voters residing abroad will elect six representatives, two for each jurisdiction abroad (Canada and the United States; Europe, Asia and Oceania and Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa).

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has tentatively set the dates of December 8 for the delivery of credentials to the elected assembly members and the 11th of the same month for the new president of the Republic, although these deadlines could vary depending on the resources available. may be presented during the scrutiny.

This electoral process in Ecuador has an extraordinary character, since it arose last May by order of President Lasso, who invoked the call “crossed death”a constitutional tool that empowered him to dissolve the National Assembly (Parliament) and also cut his term in half.

Therefore, whoever wins the second round will only complete the 2021-2025 period that corresponded to Lasso, who decided to take the shortcut of “crossed death” when Parliament, dominated by the opposition, was preparing to vote on a motion of censure. against him, within the framework of a political trial for alleged corruption.