In a decision emitted this Wednesday by the CNE, the political movement of ex-president Rafael Correa was deemed unable to register candidates for the South American nation's upcoming presidential elections in 2021.
In a plenary session, the electoral body ordered to disqualify three separate political movements: Correa's (the Social Commitment Force movement), the Together We Can movement, and Freedom is the People movement.
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Ecuador: Rafael Correa's Party Barred From Running In Elections
With three votes in favor of CNE President Diana Atamaint and councilors Jose Cabrera and Esthela Acero, the plenary session denied the validity of the registration attempts on behalf of the ex-president's political movement.
Given this resolution, Correa, through his Twitter account, denounced the move as electoral fraud by the country's dominant forces, fearful of their "assured defeat at the polls."
World: they have again eliminated Social Commitment List 5, Ecuador's leading political force, just two days before candidacy registrations. Fraud is evident; they're worried about their sure defeat at the polls.
According to the electoral body, the disqualified parties failed to comply with the requirement to present a specific percentage of signatures from the voter registry in order to run for the election. That said, analysts signal that the move represents another chapter of the ongoing political persecution against ex-president Correa and his allies.
The decision was widely rejected on social media by a broad array of voices, from intellectuals to politicians and social activists.
Despite this resolution that seeks to eliminate these three political organizations, their movements still can appeal the decision through the Electoral Disputes Court.