A New Referendum in Ecuador

President Correa assured that next week he will send a project amendment to the Constitutional Court, to call a referendum to deal with crime laws.

On Monday Correa indicated he would send to the National Assembly the proposal of two constitutional amendments and one legal reform.

The first refers to Article 77 of the Constitution, which deals with restrictions on the expiration of six months detention without trial for crimes of imprisonment.

The second bill want to change the alternatives for custody, it should only be applied for those without charges of murder, rape, drug trafficking, and all other sanctions that have a sentence of more than six years in prison.

A reform for the bill of National Security regarding the participation of Armed Forces to act directly on matters of internal security, which is one of the main issues of the region.

According to the Secretary of State, the calling for a referendum does not need to go through the National Assembly for approval. So the Constitutional Court has 50 days to issue a ruling. After this, a response should be sent to the National Electoral Council in order to convene the referendum in 45 days.