The Democratic Center (CD) party's binomial led by Andres Arauz could be banned from running in Ecuador's next elections due to the National Electoral Council (CNE) decision to cancel Rafael Correa's candidacy as vice president.
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"The disqualification of the entire binomial is among the alternatives we have. We haven't ruled out that decision yet," CNE President Diana Atamaint said.
The CNE rejected Correa's pre-candidacy arguing that he did not deliver the acceptance to his nomination personally. However, the former President, who has been in Belgium since 2017, was forbidden to hand it over to Ecuador's embassy in Brussels.
If Correa had traveled to his homeland to accept the vice presidential candidacy, he could have been imprisoned due to his alleged connection to a corruption case.
Last week, the Democratic Center party nominated journalist Carlos Rabascall as Correa's replacement in the vice-presidential candidacy. But the decision has not been formalized before the CNE yet.
"They must deliver the registration documents so we can determine whether they can keep running for the elections or not," Atamaint warned.
The CNE options are to reject the entire binomial, cancel the vice president's pre-candidacy, or disqualify the Democratic Center's candidacy definitively.
Ecuador's elections day will be on February 7, 2021. Over 13 million citizens will attend to the polls. According to the latest opinion poll, which was hired by the country's business sectors, the left-wing Arauz-Rabascall binomial has over 43 percent of support among voters.