INTRODUCTION
What is
now the Republic of Ecuador was a Spanish colonial government in 1563 through
1822 when it gained its independence as part of a federation known as Gran
Colombia. In 1830 Ecuador became a sovereign republic. And in 2004, Ecuador
marked 30 years of democratic, civilian governance, though the period was
tarnished by political instability. Protests in Quito (the capital) contributed
to the mid-term ouster of three of Ecuador's last four democratically elected
presidents, and the rule of two interim presidents. In 2006, Rafael Correa was
elected President, as a candidate for the political movement PAIS (Movimiento Patria
Altiva I Soberana-MPAIS). In late 2007, Correa called for a constituent
assembly and in late 2008 voters approved the 20th constitution since
gaining independence.
The 2008
Constitution[1]
marked a turning point in Ecuador’s democratic history. For one, the new
constitution established five independent State powers: (1) Executive, (2)
Legislative, (3) Judiciary, (4) Electoral and (5) Participation and social
control. The new constitution also introduced the constitutionalization of political parties. According to the
Constitution political parties and movements are “public, non-State-run
organizations” (Art. 108), which are the only organizations that can sponsor
political actors or their adherents as candidates in elections; unlike in the
past when independent candidates were accepted as legitimate and legal
political contestants. Furthermore, the regulation
of the functioning of political organizations in the constitution has also
allowed for limited fractioning of the political party system since there are
higher barriers for new political parties and movements to become legally
registered to sponsor candidates in elections and receive direct and indirect
State financing for their operations and campaigning.
As of
2008, Ecuador has had seven elections: 3 referenda, 3 sectional elections and
one general election. Since its establishment in 2006, MPAIS, the ruling
political movement has remained the strongest political force. However, the
presence of this strong political contender, coupled with higher entry barriers
for new and traditional political organizations and new electoral laws, has
empowered a renovation of the political party system, encouraging strong new
political actors to step into the political sphere. During the last two
elections (2013-2014) MPAIS reached the highest number of elected candidates,
however, during the most recent sectional elections (2014) another political
force emerged, Partido AVANZA, with the second highest number of elected
candidates following MPAIS closely.
EQUITY IN FINANCING
Electoral
conditions have improved since the new constitution was adopted and the passing
of the Electoral Law (Ley Orgánica Electoral y de Organizaciones Políticas de
la República de Ecuador, Código de la Democracia). For one, the constitution provides
State financing for political organizations, and the Electoral Law establishes
mechanisms for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to regulate equity and
transparency in the way political organizations spend their money. Through both
direct and indirect financing, the CNE seeks to provide equal grounds for
campaigning and the institutional development of political organizations, to
restrict private financing, and reduce excessive campaign spending.
According
to the Electoral Law, political organizations receive both public and private financing
(Art. 353). In order for political organizations to receive State financing
they must have at least obtained 4% of valid votes in the last two national,
multiple-candidate, consecutive elections; at least 3 representatives in the National
Assembly, 8% of elected mayors, or at least one councilman or woman in each of
at least 10% of all municipal governments in the country.
Every
year the National Electoral Council receives the Permanent Political Party Fund
as part of its yearly budget, which is equivalent to 0,3*1000 of the constant
fiscal expenses; which the CNE will distribute in the following way: 50% in
equal parts to each political party that is entitled, 35% to be distributed
proportionally to the number of votes obtained in each of the last
multiple-candidate elections; and 15% for the Institute for Democracy[2]
(on secondment to National Electoral Council). Public financing for political
organizations must be used exclusively to promote training, publications,
research as well as their institutional development (Art. 355)[3].
The
National Electoral Council (CNE), through its budget, will also, exclusively,
finance promotional campaign in written press, radio, television and billboards
for political organizations when they have running candidates during electoral
times. Political organizations are banned from hiring their own publicity in
media (Art. 358)[4]
and/or receiving media advertizing as part of donations from private or state
institutions other than the CNE (Art. 360)[5].
The
Permanent Political Party Fund is distributed after receiving the prior year’s
final report on incomes and expenditures. Political organizations have three
months after the end of the prior year (end of March) to turn in their complete
expenditure report, subsequently, if all accounts are in order, they can expect
to receive a full disbursement at the end of the following month (late April).
However, the timing delivery also depends on the Ministry of Finance and their
timeliness in providing the National Electoral Council with the full amount of
the yearly budget. In 2013 the CNE was not able to allocate the Permanent
Political Party Fund until November.
This year,
the Supervision of Electoral Expenditure Office has received five out of seven
2013 reports from national political organizations. Financing for political organizations will
only be provided if said POs turn in all accounting documentation (Art. 356)[6]
according to the standards established in Chapter III of the National Electoral
Council’s Regulation for the Financing, Publicity and Spending Control, and it´s
Judging in Administrative Headquarters, PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012; and once
all amounts, origin, and destination have been analyzed and cleared by the Supervision
of Electoral Expenditure Office.
Political
organizations (POs) can also receive private funding as part of their common
equity. However, private contributions are controlled, audited and examined by
the National Electoral Council. All private contributions must be registered,
accounted for and published by POs on their website (Art.359, Electoral Law). All
POs are obligated to keep an accounting record of all income and expenditures;
which they are obliged to report to the CNE according to the guidelines
established in Chapter III of the National Electoral Council’s Regulation
for the Financing, Publicity and Spending Control, and it´s judging in
Administrative Headquarters, PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012[7] (articles
17-63).
Private
financing can be provided by the following sources:
1. Ordinary
and extraordinary affiliate fees, as well as voluntary and personal dues that
candidates contribute to their own campaigns;
2. Fees
or donations given freely and spontaneously by natural persons of Ecuadorian
nationality that are residents or that live abroad, and foreign natural persons
that reside in Ecuador; and,
3. The
income that political organizations obtain from renting their properties, as
well as promotional activities. (Art. 216)
Private
contributions are restricted for income of illicit origin, from national
natural persons that hold contracts with the State, from natural persons that
have trials with the State, from public employees, and the use of public
property and resources to promote candidates. In the case of candidates running
for reelection campaign expenses can be audited by the National Comptrollership.
(Arts. 219-223)[8]
Communications
media sources are also prohibited from favoring candidates directly or
indirectly and must also submit to the National Electoral Council’s regulation
during electoral periods. Nevertheless, it is important to call attention to
this issue, given that the Electoral Law does not provide the CNE legal
authority to impose strong sanctions. During the last two elections, media
monitoring evidenced indirect favoring of one or even two candidates, which
lead to the polarization of the elections—especially of local elections, taking
competing candidates out of the race even before they have a chance to make
their work plans known. Another legal weakness of the Electoral Law is that it
does not provide protection for gender equality. According to a media monitoring
analysis conducted by Corporación Participación Ciudadana (2013)[9],
during the general elections campaign period, women appeared less than men in
interviews while running for the same post. Also underrepresented in the media
were indigenes, afro-Ecuadorians, and people with handicaps.
The legal
framework for campaign proposes as its ultimate goal to reduce campaign
expenses. According to what is established in Art. 202 of the law, campaigns
last a maximum of 45 days and must end 48 hours prior to the election-day. Each
candidate has an established limit on total campaign expenditures (Art. 209).
As far as media advertising goes, the CNE has implemented a digital control tool
that allows financial administrators from each PO to hire media advertising
only within the budget established for each candidature[10].
Media sources that wish to advertise campaign publicity must be registered with
the CNE, all campaign advertising must be handled through the CNE’s advertising
tool. The electoral law prohibits media sources from selling advertising spots
directly to candidates or POs (Art.358).
TRANSPARENCY IN FINANCING
Open and
transparent political financing is as important to elections as a free and fair
vote. The transparency of resources used by political organizations throughout election
campaign financing, as well as political party activities in non-election years,
is vital for increasing the public's trust in democracy and politics. Prior to
the 2008 constitution, civil society had lost its faith in politics and
political organizations. POs were run by families and political power was
controlled by a few and isolated from the majority. The approval of the 2008
constitution marked a turning point in political participation. In this sense
electoral legal framework (2008-2009)[11]
in Ecuador set a foundation for increased trust in political parties and
movements.
Registration
mechanisms: All political organizations (Ops) must designate one person,
according to their own norms, that will be responsible, before de National
Electoral Council, for the administration of financial affairs. Income and
expenditure records will be kept and managed solely by this commissioner (Art.361).
For the administration of financial transactions, OPs must have two bank
accounts: one exclusively for political campaign financing, and another
exclusively for their operative affairs. The economic commissioner for each
political organization is obligated to keep accounting record, according to
current national accounting laws and norms for both accounts, which must be
endorsed and signed by an authorized public accountant (Art. 362). Deadlines
and guidelines for designating an economic commissioner are established in
Chapter II of the National Electoral Council’s Regulation for the Financing,
Publicity and Spending Control, and it´s judging in Administrative Headquarters,
PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012 (Art. 11-16).
For
electoral purposes the standardized registration mechanism for income and expenditures
is stipulated in Chapter III of the National Electoral Council’s Regulation: PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012.
Once, the economic commissioner is designated, he or she must open both bank
accounts and obtain a Unique Registry of Taxpayer (RUC) in order to receive an
access code for the online information system for electoral promotion.
Thereafter, all economic transactions must be registered and turned in ninety
days after the last election (Art.38)[12].
Records must be turned in according to the CNE’s format (Art. 31)[13].
Once
record files are complete, within the deadlines stipulated, they must be turned
in to the Secretary General of the National Electoral Council. In case of
General Elections, in which case voting occurs with the national territory and
abroad, the files will be turned in at the nearest Ecuadorian consulate
(Art.35)[14].
Thereafter, the CNE will conduct an exam on the records received; the objective
will be to verify the origin, legality and veracity of said records. Once the
exam has been conducted, the Supervision of Electoral Expenditure Office will
issue a report and submit the file to the competent institution in case of any
irregular findings, or it will be made public by the CNE and the political
organization, and the office will proceed to disburse the following year’s
funding (Art.43)[15].
If any of
the reports on incomes and expenditures, by any one of the political parties or
movements, holds inconsistencies, according to article 362 of the Electoral Law,
the CNE shall submit the file to: (1) The Electoral Disputes Tribunal in case
of administrative inconsistencies, (2) the National Comptrollership, which is
the State entity in charge of conducting the investigation in case of misuse of
public funds— the National Comptrollership can determine civil responsibility;
and (3) if there is any indication of penal responsibility, then the file will
be turned into the Office of the Attorney General, who must determine penal
responsibilities.
According
to the electoral law, all information pertaining to the accountability and
transparency of electoral financing is public, and shall published in the
National Electoral Council’s web page as well as by the political organization
(Art. 212 of the Electoral Law). The CNE and the Electoral Disputes Tribunal
can require any and all public or private institutions to render information
and data about the origin or destination of electoral funds (Art.213)[16].
The mechanisms for soliciting and receiving information are described in the 3rd
and 4th section, Chapter III of the National Electoral Council’s Regulation
for the Financing, Publicity and Spending Control, and it´s judging in
Administrative Headquarters, PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012. The economic
commissioner may place an administrative compliant, and a subsequent appeal (if
the situation merits so), if he or she feels faulted with the accounts exam
resolution (Section 6)[17].
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Even
though Ecuadorian electoral legislation has come a long way in the past decade,
a gap between the norm and the practice of managing political-financing still
remains. The following recommendations are offered:
1. More
emphasis on gender equality:
Globally,
women and men experience different opportunities when trying to participate in
the political sphere. Of all the factors that impact gender inequality, lack of
access to campaign funds for women candidates to successfully run for office is
most often an important cause. Although politics remains male-dominated in Ecuador
(and most countries), discussions about women and men in politics seldom focus
on the financial inequality issues. There is a significant connection between
political finance and gender equality, especially when indirect publicity lacks
strong control mechanisms.
Thus, the
concrete recommendation is that legal reforms focus on the importance of
networks and the need for adequate training of the media, political
organizations and civil society, as well as effective regulations of indirect
publicity by the National Electoral Council.
2. Improved
regulation mechanisms and effectiveness of sanctions:
Even
though there is a clear control mechanism for the registration and supervision
of electoral incomes and expenditures, regulation mechanisms lack agility, and
even political determination, on behalf of the control entities, thus the
effectiveness of the sanctions diminishes. For these reasons, there are
necessary reforms to be made on this front.
3. Higher
restrictions on private funding:
The
absence of upper limits for private political donations in Ecuador, can lead
illicit financing to permeate the electoral system. Although there are clear
bans on illicit financing, the permission of private financing allows for
higher risk of money laundering an increasing risk in the Ecuadorian electoral
system.
For this
and other reasons private funding raises questions about the influence of
private interests on public decision making and the integrity of political
finance.
Character count
(including spaces): 17.908 characters
WORKS CITED
Asamblea Nacional,
ed. Constitución De La República Del
Ecuador. 2nd ed. Quito: Asamblea Nacional, 2011. Print.
Compilación
Normativa Interna Del CNE Sobre Procesos Electorales. 3rd ed. Quito: Consejo Nacional
Electoral, 2013. Print.
Corporación
Participación Ciudadana. "Reporte Final De Participación De Candidatos a
Las Alcaldías De Quito, Guayaquil Y Cuenca En Los Espacios Informativos En
Medios De Comunicación." Participación Ciudadana. N.p., 27 Feb.
2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.participacionciudadana.org>.
Ley Orgánica
Electoral Y De Organizaciones Políticas De La República Del Ecuador. 2nd ed. Quito: Consejo Nacional
Electoral, November 2012. Print.
[1]
Can be found in English at
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/english08.html
[2] The Institute for Democracy
shall devote its efforts to democratic research, training and promotion.
[3] Ley Orgánica Electoral y de
Organizaciones Políticas de la República de Ecuador, Código de la Democracia. Primera
edición, noviembre 2012.
[4]
Idem.
[5]
Idem.
[6]
Idem.
[7]
Published online at
http://www.cne.gob.ec/index.php/Resoluciones/Resoluciones/r-2-octubre-2012.html
[8] Ley Orgánica Electoral y de
Organizaciones Políticas de la República de Ecuador, Código de la Democracia. Primera
edición, noviembre 2012.
[9] Published online at
http://www.participacionciudadana.org/pc10/images/docu/pulso12/infcoberturafin.pdf
[10]
Amounts can be found established in Art. 209 of the Electoral Law.
[11]
2008 Constitution and the 2009 Electoral Law.
[12]
National Electoral Council’s Regulation for the Financing, Publicity and
Spending Control, and it´s judging in Administrative Headquarters,
PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012.
[13]
Idem.
[14]
Idem.
[15]
Idem.
[16]
2009 Electoral Law
[17]
Chapter III of the National Electoral Council’s Regulation for the Financing,
Publicity and Spending Control, and it´s judging in Administrative Headquarters,
PLE-CNE-1-2-10-2012.
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