Vice President of Ecuador requests intervention of control authorities

Quito. The vice president of Ecuador, Verónica Abad, reacted this Sunday night to the temporary suspension of the position imposed on her by the Ministry of Labor for abandonment of work and described the sanction as a “gross violation of the Constitution” to prevent the presidential succession .

Abad attacked the president, Daniel Noboa, with whom he has an open dispute, and stated that the administrative process against him “is not applicable to officials elected at the polls” for which he requested the intervention of the control authorities of the Andean country. .

The vice president was accused by the Foreign Ministry before the Ministry of Labor for not having complied with the order to travel on September 1 from Israel – where she serves as an ambassador designated by the president – to Turkey due to the war conflict that the first country is facing. Abad arrived in Ankara eight days later.

The suspension from office for 150 days, without remuneration, is added to a recent fine that an Ecuadorian electoral court imposed on her for $8,500 for having campaigned early when she was a candidate for mayor of the city of Cuenca in 2023.

“It is intended to disqualify me for five months for an offense not committed and without any proof, with the sole objective of preventing me from assuming the presidency of the Republic when the presidential candidate enters his electoral campaign” in January 2025, Abad asserted.

According to the Constitution, the vice president or vice president must assume the presidency, in the temporary or permanent absence of the president.

“I make a strong and forceful call to the control authorities,” said the second president and urged the Legislature, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office and other institutions to investigate and supervise the actions of the presidency and other public institutions. Abad added that he will report the incident to the international community.

The relationship between the president and the vice president has been fractured since the election period, without the reasons being clear. Noboa has called her “disloyal,” while Abad assures that Noboa’s government seeks to pressure her to resign.