Quito (EFE).- The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador approved a reform to the electoral calendar that extends until June 13 the registration of candidacies for the extraordinary presidential and legislative elections on August 20.
After a plenary session of the CNE, the body also resolved to set June 10 as the deadline for political organizations to develop their primary processes to define applicants.
With this decision, a little more time is granted to partisan organizations “to develop internal democracy (primaries), which will take place until June 10,” reiterated the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint.
The principle of gender parity is applied
In addition, the CNE ratified its decision to accept without appeal a provision of the Electoral Dispute Tribunal (TCE), the highest legal control body in electoral processes, so that the principle of gender parity is applied in the formation of candidate lists. .
The CNE explained that after receiving the official notification from the TCE this Saturday, it has decided to apply gender parity in the binomials (tandem) for president and vice president, which would guarantee the inclusion of a woman in that electoral representation.
The decision to modify the calendar and extend the deadlines for primaries and registration is precisely due to gender parity, since it was considered that political organizations would require a little more time to prepare their lists.
“As an institution, we guarantee the development of efficient, transparent electoral processes and with absolute respect for the principles of parity and inclusion,” said the CNE.
“Cross Death”
The elections next August, in which Ecuadorians will elect a new president and 137 legislators, obeys the process of “cross death” applied on April 17 by the country’s president, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, by which he dissolved the National Assembly and called early elections, thereby shortening his term.
With this option, Lasso avoided a possible dismissal in Parliament, where the opposition, the majority in plenary, accused him of alleged corruption in a public company.
Those who are elected in the August 20 elections will remain in office until May 2025, when Lasso’s term was to end.
For the elections on May 20, the CNE has invited several international entities to observe the voting process, with the aim of “contributing to transparency,” added the source.
The CNE announced that it will send invitations to the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Union of Electoral Bodies (UNIORE), the World Association of Electoral Bodies (A-WEB), the Andean Parliament, the Mercosur Parliament, the Carter Center and the European Union, among others.