The Ecuadorian electoral campaign has been marked by the murders of a presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio; one of the most popular mayors in the country, Agustín Intriago; and other political leaders who were part -directly or indirectly- of this democratic election.
In this context, it is still tragic to remember that the elections on August 20, in which more than 13 million Ecuadorians will participate, were generated by a constitutional mechanism known in Ecuador as “cross death.”
This is the first time this resource is useddescribed in article 148 of the Ecuadorian Constitution, which was accepted in the constitutional text of 2008, promulgated during the term of former President Rafael Correa.
The process began on May 17 when President Guillermo Lasso signed the decree to dissolve the Assembly, where his possible removal was about to be voted on.
The parliamentary opposition accused the president of the crime of embezzlement (embezzlement), for not terminating a contract between the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet (Flopec) and the Amazonas Tankers consortium for the transport of petroleum derivatives, which supposedly would have caused serious economic damage to state coffers.
Lasso, for his part, said that opponents they had put “Ecuadorian democracy in check” through a “destabilization” strategy.
According to article 148, the president can use cross death for three reasons: if he considers that the Assembly has performed functions that do not correspond to it, if it obstructs the National Development Plan or if there is a serious political crisis and internal commotion.
The last cause was the one mentioned by Lasso in the presidential decree.
But how does this constitutional resource work, where does its name originate and until when will the elected authorities govern?
Termination of mandate
After the signing of the presidential decree, the law specifies that the National Electoral Council (CNE) should call presidential and legislative elections within a maximum period of seven days, which it effectively did on May 24.
The law contemplates that the public representatives elected in these elections They will remain in their positions until the end of the legislature that was interrupted for the “cross death”.
This means that the candidates who will participate in the elections this Sunday do not know when they will take office -due to the uncertainty of whether everything will be resolved in the first round or another election between the two most voted pairs will be necessary- but they know that their term will end on 23 May 2025, which was the expected end of the Lasso government.
Another thing that the incoming president knows is that the mechanism of “cross death” it may not be invoked again during the remainder of this constitutional period.
If no presidential candidacy is imposed in the first round, the new elections between the most voted pairs will be on October 15.
A party can win in a single round when it obtains at least the absolute majority of valid votes cast or if it obtains at least 40% of the votes and a difference greater than ten percentage points with the second place.
no candidacy
By using this constitutional remedy, the president risks losing power; This is where the colloquial expression “cross death” comes from, since both the president and the National Assembly can lose their powers.
But both the occupant of the Carondelet Palace (the seat of the Ecuadorian executive power) and the assembly members have the possibility of re-presenting themselves as candidates, something that Lasso – plunged into minimum levels of popularity – declined.
“This is the greatest honor of my life, however, far above the office of president, I love democracy. Far above the presidency, I love freedom. And if my duty as president requires me to step down from my position to protect democracy, then I will do so, ”said the president when announcing that he would not compete.
His movement, CREO, did not present candidates for either the presidency or the Assembly.
After the “cross death”, the 136 assembly members lost their positions and Lasso governed through decrees, which have had to pass through the filter of the Constitutional Court.
Since assuming the presidency in May 2021, the president has not had a significant parliamentary bloc and many of his critics accuse him of not having achieved alliances with other political sectors.
The heterogeneous opposition – made up of very dissimilar blocks such as the correísta left (the allies of former President Rafael Correa), the Social Christian right and indigenous groups – did join forces to get the necessary votes to advance with the impeachment trial against the president.
But the Assembly had, at the time of its dissolution, an even lower popularity than Lasso’s.
According to the polling company Perfiles de Opinión, less than 6% of Ecuadorians approved of the performance of the legislative branchwhile less than 14% considered the presidential administration positive.
Unsafety
The main concern of Ecuadorians is the wave of violence that the country is experiencing.
Ecuador closed 2022 with its worst criminal record, with 4,603 violent deaths, which meant a rate of 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
“The growth is exponential, since in 2021, the official rate was 13.7 deaths, that is, in one year the increase was 82.5%. With these new data, Ecuador becomes the country with the highest growth in criminal violence in 2022 in Latin America,” reported the Ecuadorian news portal Primicias.
In recent years, the Andean nation has gone from being a transit country to a drug distribution center.
The electoral campaign has not been exempt from this violence.
Following the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio on August 9 in Quito, several candidates wore bulletproof vests to their public appearances.
But the National Electoral Council (CNE) kept August 20 as the date for the elections and electoral activities continued, including a debate between the candidates.
See original article on BBC