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Rejection of parties towards nation-wide broadcasts
Posted On 27 Nov 2012
Fernando Alvarado
After the National Secretariat of the Presidency Communication (SECOM for its Spanish acronym) repeatedly send a documentary without the authorization of the National Electoral Council (CNE for its Spanish acronym), several leaders of different political groups in the country have voiced their rejection and indignation.
The 35 minute-long video, transmitted on Teleamazonas and Ecuavisa the last two Sundays, respectively, in primetime, highlights the “benefits” of the government of Rafael Correa and harms the image of former presidents and citizens who are current presidential candidates, specially that of Abdala Bucaram Ortiz and Lucio Gutiérrez. Guillermo Lasso was also denigrated by being associated with former President Jamil Mahuad, in the case of the bank holiday and dollarization.
Gutierrez, meanwhile claimed the president of the CNE, “If Domingo Paredes has no moral quality to prevent the government from violating the law, he should quit office” and also said that today he is going to file a lawsuit against the Communications Secretary Fernando Alvarado.
Also, in defense of Bucaram Ortiz, his son Abdala Bucaram Pulley, also warned that he will submit a claim, “It will be a lawsuit against the brothers Vinicio and Fernando Alvarado by using public funds to denigrate the image of Ecuadorians.”
According to the director of Participacion Ciudadana, Ruth Hidalgo, this documentary would violate two rules:
- Article 115 of the Constitution which prohibits the use of state infrastructure as well as government advertising at all levels of the regime for the election campaign.
- Article 219 of the Code of Democracy, which prohibits the promotion of public officials.
Meanwhile, Domingo Paredes, said they are reviewing the videos to determine whether the broadcasts are of an “institutional and informational nature” and requested a meeting with Fernando Alvarado to discuss the policies to be applied from January 4 at the beginning of the campaign. (MZ)
