US embassy cable - 05QUITO1363

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 001363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN NGO HAS REFORM PROPOSAL 
 
 
1.  Summary:  Ecuadorian NGO Citizen Participation (PC) has 
prepared an electoral reform proposal that will be discussed 
in forums nationwide, and then presented to the Vice 
Presidency and the National Modernization Council (CONAM) for 
possible inclusion in the December 11 referendum.  The 
initiative would focus on changes to the representational 
system in Congress, political parties, and the impartiality 
of other government institutions.  PC hopes that the reforms 
can be implemented by July 15 next year, so they can be in 
effect for the 2006 national elections.  While these ideas 
look good on paper, many powerful groups will likely seek to 
block these reforms.  End Summary. 
 
2.  In a meeting on June 9, PC head Cesar Montufar and PC 
legal advisor Jose Valencia discussed the organization's 
proposal for political reform with PolOff and AIDOffs.  The 
proposal, noting that Ecuador is experiencing one of its most 
severe democratic crises, focuses on the need to restore 
legitimacy to the political institutions.  Montufar believes 
that urgent political reforms should focus on the collapse of 
effective national representation in the Executive, Congress, 
political parties, and political movements.  The proposal 
will be one of many submitted by NGOs, student groups, and 
others, to be considered for inclusion in the December 11 
referendum. 
 
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PC to Hold Public Forums on Reforms 
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3.  Starting June 10, Citizen Participation will hold citizen 
forums in different cities throughout the country to discuss 
and revise the proposal.  They would then deliver their 
finalized proposal to the Vice Presidency and CONAM by July 
15.  The proposal could then be considered for inclusion in 
the President's proposed December 11 referendum.  (PC is 
planning to promote the idea that the referendum be moved up 
to October.)  For any reforms to be implemented for the 2006 
national elections, they would need to be in effect by July 
15 next year, when elections are convoked. 
 
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Electoral Reforms Should Come First 
----------------------------------- 
 
4.  Due to the timeframe, Montufar believes electoral reform, 
to include a transformation of the system of representation 
and political parties, should be a priority.  Montufar 
believes that, at the national level, there is a dire need to 
restore political legitimacy.  PC suggests representation by 
districts in Congress, having one deputy for every 150,000 
voters.  Provinces with less than 150,000 voters would have 
one deputy.  This would create a Congress with a total of 64 
deputies.  PC believes this will create a more direct 
relationship between constituents and their representatives, 
holding deputies more accountable.  They also believe this 
will give minority groups a better representation.  PC also 
suggests moving the election of deputies to after the first 
round of presidential elections, giving a boost to the 
parties in the lead. 
 
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Eliminating Political Influence in Institutions 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
5.  PC believes the magistrates for the Constitutional 
Tribunal, Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Comptroller 
General, and Attorney General should be elected through a 
public and transparent process.  There would be established 
professional and personal requirements for candidates, 
including that they have no party affiliation.  Congress 
would designate a Qualifying Commission, free of party 
influence, to carry out the selection of these officials. 
 
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Electoral Budget Reform 
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6.  PC suggests strengthening controls on electoral spending; 
political parties currently act with impunity.  PC suggests 
parties be required to spend 30% of their budgets on training 
to create better qualified candidates.  The government would 
also give scholarships for party leaders under PC's plan. 
 
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A Non-obligatory Vote 
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7.  PC also suggests making voting non-obligatory so that 
citizens will see it as a civilian right and not an 
obligation.  They feel this would increase feelings of 
democratic participation.  However, AIDOffs worried the 
reform runs the risk of allowing populist parties to increase 
their vote-buying.  Montufar's response was that within the 
current legislation, this already exists; the only way to 
combat populism is by educating voters to make better 
decisions, not through electoral reforms which have been 
tried and ineffective over the past 25 years of democracy. 
 
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Expanding Revocation of Mandates 
-------------------------------- 
 
8.  PC will propose that a Constitutional rewrite clarify the 
mechanisms to revoke mandates in order to make elected 
officials more accountable.  Articles 109-113 of the 
Constitution describe the procedure which currently can be 
used to revoke the mandates of mayors, prefects, or deputies 
for corruption or failing to carry out their work plan. 
While the Constitution says that the move must have the 
support of at least 30 percent of voters registered within 
the elected officials' districts, the exact procedure to 
carry out the revocation is not clear. 
 
9.  The mechanism has never been used as the Constitution, as 
it is written now, is very vague on the subject.  PC is also 
proposing expanding the article to also include the President 
and Vice President.  When AIDOffs asked if this could lead to 
greater instability, PC replied that looking at the example 
of Venezuela, one could see how the mechanism had instead 
restored a government's legitimacy. 
 
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Comment 
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10.  While Ecuador as a whole would benefit from these 
proposed reforms, many powerful political groups would not. 
Entrenched political parties will not want to lose their 
influence within the Constitutional Tribunal and Supreme 
Electoral Tribunal.  Smaller provinces with populations under 
150,000 will not want to go from two to only one deputy. 
 
11.  There are other technical challenges such as how the 
various reform proposals will be prioritized for inclusion in 
the referendum.  The referendum must get through Congress as 
well, allowing the larger political parties to exercise their 
influence. 
Kenney