Ecuador is in electoral silence just hours away from going to the polls for some private elections on Sunday, February 5. About 13.5 million Ecuadorians are called for the municipal elections, in which the 221 mayors are renewed, but also 23 prefects (provincial governors), in addition to municipal councils, rural representatives and again this time deputies elect institutions such as the prosecutor, the accountant and others.
There are 61,850 candidates, seven ballot papers that the Electoral Council has color-coded to make it easier to distinguish, two amphorae will be provided for depositing them and facilitating vote counting. In addition, the government constructed a constitutional referendum with eight questions in the call for elections. When President Guillermo Lasso proposed going to a referendum, the initial goal was to pass legislative reforms that would solve – well – the huge security problem that is the main concern of Ecuadorians, where the homicide rate is 25%. per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in Latin America.
However, the final vote will consist of eight questions, only one of which has anything to do with certainty and on which President Lasso has staked everything, even the political capital he could raise in the sections. “The government is more concerned about the assembly and the indigenous movement,” says political scientist Jacobo García. The ruling party did not present strong candidates in the midterm elections, nor does it participate in major cities such as Quito and Guayaquil, and in other cities it relies on alliances with various movements when politics needs to be bottom-up and connect with the territory therefore, in “moments of crisis such as the social protest that lasted 18 days, fractures occurred due to lack of unity between the central government and local governments, and some mayors took the opportunity to position themselves in their favor,” says sociologist Pablo Excuse me. And given the constant threat of Indigenous mobilizations and depositions it faced in its first year, the government may need alliances.
With the departure of the ruling party from the political table, its three main opponents in the country can gain strength: the party of former President Rafael Correa, from the right with its allies, the Christian Social Party, and Pachakutik, from the indigenous movements.
But even in an undecided scenario, in which 58% of voters said they did not know who they would vote for and would not vote without compulsory voting, many of the 221 municipalities will self-identify as representing different political parties; That means that the map of Ecuador is fragmenting, García analyses. “In many places, whoever wins is expected to win by 25 or 30 percent, and that creates a legitimacy problem.”
And in the absence of clear and viable proposals, in the absence of a campaign plagued by candidates dancing and performing to Tik Tok, voters will be uncertain on Sunday to fill out seven ballots. While not far from the usual reality, since the start of their democracy in 1978, Ecuadorians have been called 11 times to the polls through referenda on constitutional amendments. The last time was President Lenín Moreno, in February 2018. His predecessor, Rafael Correa, used this source four times. Governments have used this tool as a political thermometer of their popularity and on this occasion President Lasso, amidst citizens’ discontent, resorted to the same formula to get oxygen and finish the two years he was still in office .
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Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
