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News > Latin America

Ecuador: International Observers 'Concerned' by Resignations Amid Referendum

  • Mariano Gonzalez Vice President of the Andean Parliament.

    Mariano Gonzalez Vice President of the Andean Parliament. | Photo: teleSUR

Published 3 February 2018
Opinion

“Recent resignations from [state] institutions, and the speeding-up of the elections,” generate an alarm in the face of Sunday’s vote, international observer Mariano Gonzalez said.

The Vice President of the Andean Parliament, Mariano Gonzalez, an international observer for Ecuador’s referendum (locally known as the popular consultation), says he is concerned by the number of resignations, which took place ahead of the Feb. 4 vote.

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Gonzalez said during an interview with teleSUR that the referendum could generate some changes and reforms of a significant part of the state’s policies and functions.

“The existing concern as an international observer stems from the legitimacy of the National Electoral Council, another worrisome fact is the recent resignation from [state] institutions and the speeding-up the elections,” a concerned Gonzalez said.

At least three top Ecuadorean officials have left their posts ahead of Sunday’s elections.

The first and most outspoken public official to resign was Guillaume Long, Ecuador’s permanent representative to the United Nations, who left early January.  

In his public resignation letter, Long said: “I refuse to be an accomplice in dangerous authoritarianism, disguised as false ecumenism and dialogue spirit, that's aggressively colonizing our Ecuador.” Long also stated in his letter that the referendum was “unconstitutional” and represented a “flagrant violation of institutions, democracy and state's rule of law.”

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Then came mining minister Jose Cordova, who didn’t reveal the reasons for leaving his post on Jan. 30. His resignation was followed by the departure of State Prosecutor, Diego Garcia, who held his post for ten years. Garcia cited “personal goals” for his resignation on Jan. 31.

Gonzalez also said there was no coherence between the seven questions in the referendum that mixes different issues of concern for Ecuadorean, “making the process more confusing.”

Diego Tello, a representative of the National Electoral Council, said that although the 120-day time frame for organizing the referendum was not met, the Council will ensure the process is completed correctly.  

Tello also highlighted during the interview that the security systems for the disclosure of results to media outlets and polls were strengthened. “We have a human, technical and computing team. I guarantee that we are ready for the process [...] with mathematical samples to avoid any confusion in the results,” Tello said.    

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