On Tuesday night, the National Electoral Council of Ecuador (CNE) defined that the country’s early presidential and legislative elections will be held on August 20. The decision was confirmed by CNE President Diana Atamaint exactly one week after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved Congress, invoking a constitutional mechanism.
The electoral body also unanimously approved a USD 80 million budget for the process, of which USD 48 million will be used in the first round. The rest will be allocated to a runoff scheduled for October 15 should none of the presidential candidates receive over 50 percent of the votes in the first round.
Starting next Sunday, candidates have until June 10 to register, while political campaigns will take place over a short ten-day period, from August 8 to 17. The country’s Constitutional Courts also accepted a CNE request to unify the date of the elections and a nationwide referendum on the controversial oil exploitation in the Yasuní National Park, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The definition of the electoral calendar tries to put the brakes on a political crisis that started with President Lasso’s invocation of the ‘mutual death’ clause, through which the head of state can nullify legislative powers in exchange for stepping down and calling new elections.
Mr. Lasso is allowed to issue decrees in the meantime, leaving opposition parties and union groups skeptical of the risk of him fast-tracking measures without congressional counterweights.
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