Lawyers for the Ecuadorian Citizens’ Revolution (RC) party petitioned an electoral judge on Wednesday to revoke a nine-month suspension imposed on the organization, arguing that the request for the penalty was never formally made by the Attorney General’s office as required by law.

The legal challenge centers on a document submitted to the Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE) on March 6, which Judge Joaquín Viteri accepted as a formal complaint from Attorney General Carlos Alarcón. That filing requested the provisional suspension of the RC, citing an ongoing investigation into alleged irregular campaign financing during the 2023 presidential race.

However, RC attorney Gabriel Rivera told reporters Wednesday that a recent report from the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE) clears the political movement of any liability regarding illicit fund handling.

“The Attorney General answered us yesterday, stating that the Prosecutor’s Office did not send that document to the Contentious Electoral Tribunal,” Rivera said.

Rivera contends that the document was actually dispatched by the individual prosecutor investigating the case. Under Ecuadorian electoral regulations, only the head of the Prosecutor’s Office possesses the authority to file such a suspension request against a political party. Based on this procedural defect and the new financial report, the RC is formally requesting “the revocation of the imposed measure.”

Rivera expressed hope that Judge Viteri would “redeem himself” in the coming hours to ensure “the rights of the Ecuadorian people to elect and be elected are respected.”

The nine-month suspension had previously cast a shadow over the party’s ability to field candidates in local elections originally scheduled for February 2027. However, a recent decision by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to move those elections forward to November 29 of this year has left Correa’s supporters with virtually no time to register candidates under the RC banner should the suspension stand.

The Citizens’ Revolution party has consistently dismissed the probe as political persecution.

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