[ad_1]
The Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE) of Ecuador dismissed the authorities in charge of organizing the February general elections in the middle of a competition of competences, according to a sentence released this Wednesday by the judging body.
Ángel Torres, judge of the TCE, ruled in the first instance the “removal” of the president and three councilors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) for having failed to comply with a ruling of that body that enabled the political movement Social Justice, of billionaire Álvaro Noboa, participate in elections.
In addition, the TCE, responsible for enforcing the rules, imposed a fine of $ 28,000 and the loss of rights to political participation for four years.
The CNE, in charge of organizing the elections, later said in a statement that the councilors “will go to all legal instances against this ruling that violates the democratic stability of Ecuador.
“The electoral process continues, despite attempts at interference,” he added.
Power struggle
It argued that the sentence against four of its five members “does not alter compliance with the electoral calendar that is carried out normally” for the votes February 7th.
Torres estimated that the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, and the councilors Enrique Pita, José Cabrera and Luis Verdesoto committed a “very serious electoral offense”, according to the document published on the TCE website.
The four councilors remain in office. The CNE and the TCE they hold a power struggle As a result of the first body’s refusal to apply an opinion from the second, which empowered the Social Justice movement.
That party had been disqualified for lacking the necessary signatures to be recognized by the electoral authorities, which prevented it from registering candidates for the general elections.
In the middle of the dispute, the CNE sent to print the electoral ballots with 16 presidential formulas, excluding Noboa, who has already presented himself without success on five occasions between 1998 and 2013.
Around 13.1 million of the 17.5 million inhabitants are called to elect the successor to President Lenín Moreno, who will leave power next May.
[ad_2]
