Veronica cannot be President court rules!
Quito, Mar 28 (EFE).-
The full Electoral Court (TCE) of Ecuador ruled Friday that the two-year suspension of political rights imposed on Vice President Verónica Abad implies her immediate disqualification from holding any public office.
With three votes in favor and two against, the TCE thus resolved the request for clarification made by Abad’s defense regarding the second and final instance ruling issued last Monday, which closes the door for her to temporarily assume the presidency during the electoral campaign period in which President Daniel Noboa seeks reelection.
Abad, who maintains a bitter confrontation with Noboa, maintains that the suspension of her political rights ordered by the TCE cannot affect the duties of the office to which she was elected by popular vote alongside the president, and that any disqualification or removal must originate with the National Assembly (parliament).
The TCE sentenced the vice president to a two-year suspension and a $14,000 fine following a counterclaim for political gender-based violence filed against her by Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld.
Initially, Abad had sued Noboa and several members of the government, including Sommerfeld, for political gender-based violence after accusing the president of leading a harassment campaign against her to force her to resign and thus avoid delegating the presidency to her during the election campaign.
However, the TCE dismissed Abad’s lawsuit and did find Sommerfeld’s counterclaim against the vice president well-founded.
Within the TCE plenary session, there were voices opposing the majority opinion, such as that of Judge Fernando Muñoz, who held that the Constitution does not provide for the disqualification or removal of the president or vice president through means other than the National Assembly.
Abad Seeks International Support
Abad, who was in Turkey to fulfill Noboa’s assignment as a commercial counselor at the Ecuador embassy in Ankara, recently traveled to Geneva and Paris to present her case to international organizations, EFE learned.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem expressed her “concern” on Wednesday via social media about the sanction imposed on Abad in Ecuador, “by a resolution of the TCE based on a broad interpretation of the concept of political violence against women contained in Ecuadorian electoral legislation.”
In this case, Alsalem is particularly concerned that “a sanction of suspension of political rights has been applied to an authority with a constitutional mandate without demonstrating actual violence, actual harm, or impact on the exercise of public functions.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Noboa asserted that Abad “is a traitor who has already been dismissed” during an election campaign event.
The confrontation between Noboa and Abad dates back to the campaign for the second round of the 2023 extraordinary elections. Since taking office, the president has consistently sought to keep the vice president, who has become one of the most critical voices of his administration, away from the government.
More than 13.7 million Ecuadorians are expected to vote on Apr. 13 to decide whether to re-elect Noboa for a full term until 2029 or lead Correísmo to regain power with González, who would become the first woman to win a presidential election in Ecuador’s history. EFE fgg/tw
