DIALOGUE. Reforming the code of democracy is the claim of civil society
During the discussion What about Democracy? developed this March 29 by the Citizen Participation Corporation, various analysts and experts in electoral matters called attention to the need to make changes in the model of Ecuadorian democracy
The Executive Director of Citizen Participation, Ruth Hidalgo, highlighted that they are developing this type of activity to discuss the needs of democracy in the country and the importance of strengthening political parties.
“We are seeing that there is a rather poor institutional framework, we are seeing political parties and movements that are not very serious and that do not assume the exercise of politics responsibly. On the other hand, we see a rather discredited National Assembly that is unable to adequately build a political trial. Additionally, a government that is quite weak and that fails to articulate a political strategy that allows it to have a bit of governability,” Hidalgo pointed out.
In addition to Hidalgo, the former president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Medardo Oleas; the political analyst, Alfredo Espinosa and the deputy director of Citizen Participation, Simón Jaramillo, who took stock of the deficiencies and lessons of the finalized process of sectional elections.
✔️ Today we carry out a dialogue more than #YLaDemocraciaQué
????️We talked about the context and the results of the last elections, as well as the challenges for the 2025 elections
????Thanks to the panelists @TovarichAlfredo, @OleasMedardo, @RhidalgoPC @SimonJaramilloM pic.twitter.com/igcbgQUQbH
— Citizen Participation (@ParticipacionPC) March 29, 2023
They all agreed on the obligation to carry out an urgent “transformation” of the electoral system and the system of political parties, to strengthen democracy and develop spaces for the militancy and education of the population.
Transformation proposals
The former president of the TSE, Medardo Oleas, stated that it is imperative to advance in a process of transformation of the electoral system that forces the parties to strengthen the formation of their militants. “While it cannot be done, allow the inclusion of independent and prepared candidacies,” he said.
Oleas also proposed the possibility of returning to the “Optional Vote” system. Regarding the reform process, he warned that in order to avoid the “bottleneck” of the National Assembly, it is important to present the reform as a citizen initiative, which requires the preparation of the proposal and at least 40,000 signatures.
For his part, the political analyst, Alfredo Espinosa, called for “formatting the Ecuadorian political party system,” since in his opinion the current model does not allow the generation of true politicians and, on the contrary, “encourages caudillismo, national and regional”.
He specified that it is necessary “to clean up the operators of the laws and establish clear rules for the electoral process of the year 2025.”
Balance of the sectional elections process
For his part, the deputy director of Citizen Participation, Simón Jaramillo, made a brief assessment of some of the characteristics observed during the sectional election process, noting that greater control and monitoring by the electoral authorities is essential.
Jaramillo pointed out that both candidates and political parties made use of legal loopholes, especially in social networks to develop campaigns without taking legal guidelines into account.
He indicated that “we found a lot of public advertising on social networks and there, yes, the municipalities, prefectures and candidates invited events and concerts. It is there that the CNE must verify that these acts have been reported.”
Jaramillo stated that although there is no spending limitation on the use of social networks, “yes they are regulated in their content, the authorities must verify that the spots are reported,” he said. (ILS)
Politicians are disconnected with the day to day of Ecuadorians