Ecuador: tie-up between Arauz and Lasso and new …

From Quito

The Ecuadorian electoral process is marked by uncertainties, disputes and threats. This Sunday at 3 a.m., two weeks after the vote, the National Electoral Council (CNE) finally announced the results of the first round. As we know, Andrés Arauz won, with 32.70%, and Guillermo Lasso finished second with 19.74%.

In this same session, the refusal of the request presented by the third party, Yaku Pérez, to recount the votes in 17 provinces was again ratified. The electoral authorities only accepted the 26-minute exam in Guayas and Los Ríos, “whose inconsistencies were physically presented during the public hearing of the ballots”.

The proclamation, which should shed some light on the results questioned only by Pérez, however, occurred in the midst of two new situations. In the first place, The Comptroller’s Office on Saturday requested that a computer check be carried out before the second round. And, that same afternoon, the prosecution requested that the digital content of the CNE database conduct a verification.

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Sunday that the action was taken “as part of an earlier investigation for alleged electoral fraud.”, based on Pérez’s complaints, which they asked the National Court of Justice to authorize “the recording and retention of information”. This authorization from the judge of the Court arrived on Saturday, almost simultaneously at the request of the Office of the Controller and a few hours before the announcement of the results of the CNE.

Although the prosecution claimed that “the procedure was coordinated with the presidency of the CNE”, the president of the electoral power, Diana Atamaint, had recorded a message a few hours earlier in which she declared: “We hope that the efforts of the Office of the Controller will focus on fighting corruption and that they do not echo the political forces that want to storm the CNE. We ask that the institutions and their authorities do not play the game and become political actors who defend their interests in the current electoral process ”.

In view of the events that have occurred, The political force Unión por la Esperanza, which heads Arauz’s candidacy, lodged a complaint with the contentious electoral tribunal against the attorney general, Diana Salazar, and the controller, Pablo Celi, for “interference in the electoral process”. The candidate, for his part, gave a lecture to denounce the facts: “There is only one electoral authority and we reject the interference and crass interference of other state institutions in the electoral function of the comptroller.”

Arauz denounced that after requests for audits There are threats and intentions to change the electoral calendar, which sets the start of the campaign for March 16 and the second round for April 11.: “We demand that recount rights be done within the framework of the law and involve no excuse for changing the electoral calendar.”

Complaints about possible attempts to change the electoral dates were also expressed by Atamaint, who said that “the electoral calendar leading to the second round is not changed”, and in the preliminary report submitted by the Organization of US States (OAS) Sunday. , the body called on “the electoral authorities” to “respect the electoral calendar”. The OAS, which acknowledged the election results, also expressed its “concern” that “other entities or public authorities intend to assume functions that could affect the powers of electoral bodies and the election itself ”.

Yes indeed, instead of a clear election scenario with the results after two weeks of voting, recent events have added new concerns on the various attempts to interfere in the conduct of the competition as established. Ecuadorian institutions, marked by years of struggle against the citizen revolution, have once again shown their lack of transparency and, consequently, of trust.

In turn, in this context, Pérez, with a sector of the indigenous movement, is heading towards a mobilization towards the CNE, in Quito, where he will press again against what he denounces as a fraud. The arrival in the capital will be, according to the announcements, on Tuesday. Pérez, who initially came to an agreement with Lasso to count the votes, now finds himself in what appears to be political loneliness and little chance of progressing in his attempts to challenge the outcome that gave Arauz the winner. from the first. round.

The elections in Ecuador, as planned from the beginning, are marked by a succession of irregularities, maneuvers, last minute attempts mainly focused on endangering Arauz’s candidacy. The next few days could be decisive in determining whether the country evolves towards a second round without a setback or, conversely, there will be new turns that add greater suspicion on the institutions and the electoral process.