The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador announced this Wednesday (14) that the popular consultation on issues such as security, employment and justice, promoted and called by President Daniel Noboa, will be held on April 21.
The decision was taken in a session called to debate and approve the schedule for the popular consultation and constitutional referendum, following the decisions of the Constitutional Court that gave rise to 11 questions, five of which involve reforms to the Constitution.
Among the issues to be voted on are the participation of the Armed Forces in supporting the police against organized crime, permission to extradite Ecuadorians, the establishment of constitutional courts, the recognition of international arbitration and the flexibility of the labor market with temporary contracts. and hourly. The process also includes six questions about safety and action against crime.
Noboa, who came to power on November 23, proposed a consultation on security issues during the election campaign and promoted it after taking office, under the auspices of the fight against organized crime gangs that had unleashed a spiral of violence in the country's prisons, now in the hands of the military.
Faced with this scenario, the governor declared a state of emergency and decreed “internal armed conflict”, with which he began to consider 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups and allowed the Armed Forces to be used to support the police in operations against these mafias.
Among the six security issues that do not involve changes to the Constitution, there is also the issue of allowing the Armed Forces to carry out permanent control of weapons, ammunition, explosives and accessories at the entrance to prisons.
Ecuadorians will also vote on the possibility of reforming the Penal Code to increase penalties for the crimes of terrorism and its financing, drug trafficking, organized crime, murder, contract killings, human trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, weapons trafficking, money laundering and illegal mining.
The population will also be consulted on the elimination of prison benefits for those convicted of financing terrorism, recruiting children and adolescents for criminal purposes, kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, illegal mining, illegal possession of weapons, extortion, influence peddling and money laundering, among other crimes.
Another issue concerns the criminalization of possession or carrying of weapons, ammunition or components for exclusive use by the Armed Forces or the National Police.
On the other hand, Ecuadorians will also decide whether they want to allow weapons seized from gangs or criminals to be used immediately by the police and the Armed Forces, as well as simplify the procedure for the State's seizure of goods of illicit or unjustified origin.
This consultation will be held less than a year before Ecuador's new general elections, the first round of which is scheduled for February 9, 2025 and the second round, if necessary, for April 13, 2025.
Some of the questions posed by Noboa in this popular consultation have already received a negative response in the plebiscite promoted last year by his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), who suffered a setback in the eight issues submitted to the vote, including the extradition of Ecuadorians and the support from the military to the police against organized crime.
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