Voting in a referendum called by the President of Ecuador Daniel Noboa This Sunday it all started with eleven questions that citizens must answer strengthen the fight against organized crime, attract investment through the recognition of international arbitrations and stimulate job creation on the basis of temporary and hourly contracts.

Because the From 7:00 local time to 17:00 local time. The 4,322 polling stations created for this purpose will be open, with polling stations to which more than 13.6 million Ecuadorians are invited, of whom more than 400,000 vote abroad.

This is a vote This will be a turning point for Noboa. that at stake is the high popularity achieved in the first months of his mandate by elevating the fight against criminal gangs to the category of “internal armed conflict”.

During the opening ceremony of the day, Noboa emphasized that this is a referendum. “will set a course in the fight against organized crime, fighting corruption and creating jobs.”

“Today is our moment go down in history, mark the “before” and “after”, said Noboa, for whom “this consultation raises several political flags.”

External and internal crisis

The referendum comes at one of Noboa’s most sensitive moments in his nearly five months in power, as an international diplomatic crisis erupts. for the attack on the Mexican embassy the arrest of former Vice President Jorge Glas and a domestic energy crisis with power outages of up to eight hours a day this week.

If the plebiscite is won, Noboa will be strengthened ahead of new general elections which will occur in less than ten months, and where the president is considering running for re-election, but if he loses, he could be weakened for the remainder of his term, until May 2025.

Criminal violence also has recovered during the week of the referendum with the murder of two mayors of rural towns in which illegal mining is carried out – an activity that has also been taken up by organized crime, whose main business is drug trafficking.

Reforms in the Constitution

Among the eleven questions, there are five that suggest changes to the 2008 Constitution approved during the presidential term of Rafael Correa (2007 to 2017)and the remaining six must pass through the National Assembly (Parliament) if they receive popular support.

Most of them offer legal tools for strengthen the fight against organized crimewhich is attributed to a wave of violence that has led the country to have one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, with around 45 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.

Therefore he suggests that The Armed Forces constantly support the Police in operations against organized crime.and that the military would be responsible for controlling access to prisons, since the epicenter of this crisis was until recently dominated by criminal gangs with large arsenals of weapons.

Extradition and increased punishment

Also search allow extradition Ecuadorians demanded by justice in other countries, and increase penalties for crimes related to organized crime, as well as end prison benefits for some of these criminals.

Suggestions should be added to this create an offense of possessing and carrying weapons solely for the use of police and armed forces. and that weapons seized from criminals be immediately used to equip police and military personnel, as well as speed up the process of expropriating assets of illicit origin.

Other questions focus on create a system of constitutional courts, accept international arbitration proceedings in any jurisdiction and allow hourly employment contracts.

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In Ecuador Voting is compulsory for persons aged 18 to 65 years. however, it is not mandatory for adolescents from 16 to 18 years of age, as well as for persons over 65 years of age, as well as for police officers, soldiers and prisoners who have not rendered a final verdict.

(EFE)