The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboaissued this Sunday, without offering statements, his vote in the referendum called by his Government to apply constitutional and legislative reforms to strengthen the fight against organized crime, attract investment and create jobs.
The Ecuadorian president arrived at its electoral precinct, located in the town of Olónfrom the coastal province of Santa Elena, under a strong security device made up of both police and military, as well as their bodyguards.
Noboa was accompanied by the first lady, Lavinia Valbonesiwhich he will then accompany to vote in the city of Guayaquil, located about two hours away from Olón.
Although he was scheduled to give brief statements after casting his vote, the president withdrew without speaking at that place.
Earlier in Quito he participated in the inauguration of the vote at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE), where he said that “The result of this consultation will define the course and State policy that we will take to be able to face the challenge of fighting violence, organized crime, organized crime and generating employment.”.
Day without flags
“Today is our moment to make history, today we have the opportunity to mark a before and after, today is the day in which we will bury an old country of violence, anguish and poverty and we will look in the face of a new Ecuador,” Noboa stated.
The head of state pointed out that this referendum “collects many political flags, (because) there are several actors who had the opportunity to include questions.”
“It is a day to leave behind political flags and hatred, to put aside differences and quarrels and cover ourselves with a single flag, that of Ecuador.”he concluded.
Noboa is scheduled to speak again at the presidential Carondelet Palace, in Quito, starting at 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), once voting ends and vote counting begins.
The referendum called by Noboa is made up of eleven questions, of which five involve changes to the 2008 Constitution, approved during the presidential term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), and the remaining six involve legislative changes to be addressed through the National Assembly (Parliament).
Fight against crime
Most of the questions are focused on giving legal tools to the State to reinforce the fight against organized crime gangs, for which Noboa declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict” in the country and went on to call them terrorist groups and actors. non-state belligerents.
Thus, in this matter, the plebiscite proposes that the Armed Forces permanently support the Police in operations against organized crime, without the need to issue states of exception, and that the military be in charge of controlling access to prisons, dominated by many of them. them by criminal gangs until Noboa’s militarization of the prisons.
It also seeks to allow the extraditions of Ecuadorians required by the Justice of other countries and increase the penalties for crimes related to organized crime, as well as eliminate prison benefits for several of these criminal figures.
Added to this are the proposals to create a crime of possession and carrying of weapons for the exclusive use of the Police and the Armed Forces and that the weapons seized from criminals immediately go to equip police and military personnel, in addition to expediting the expropriation process. of goods of illicit origin.
Other issues center on establishing a constitutional court system, accepting international arbitration in any jurisdiction, and allowing hourly employment contracts. EFE
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