Ecuador local elections hit by party suspensions, leaders demand EU observation

The Tribunal Contencioso Electoral (TCE) in Ecuador suspended the political party Revolución Ciudadana and, shortly thereafter, its allied movement Amigo. The suspensions occurred after requests from the Attorney General and have forced many precandidates to reorganize or abandon their campaigns just before the registration deadline.

A joint declaration signed by five Latin American parties – Brazil's Partido Socialismo y Libertad, Argentina's Derecho al Futuro, Colombia's Pacto Histórico, Chile's Frente Amplio and others – warned that these judicial measures undermine electoral competition and pluralism. The signatories called for the European Union’s Electoral Observation Mission to begin monitoring the process from its earliest stages and urged international bodies to demand guarantees that the affected precandidates can fully exercise their political rights. They highlighted the potential impact on the quality of democracy and the need for equal conditions for all political forces.

The Ecuadorian National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the EU will deploy an observation mission for the November 29 local elections, which will decide mayors, councilors, prefects and members of the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control.