The Participation Council and its destiny of uncertainty

Ecuadornews:

Criticism of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS) does not cease, despite the fact that nine years have passed since its creation. Now new voices are emerging that question its existence.

The most recent, that of its current president, Julio César Trujillo. Last week, he said that, personally, he considered that this body, which has led in the last seven months, should disappear “like many other unnecessary institutions”.

The idea could not just remain in a simple statement. The Council of Transitional Participation works on a proposal for constitutional reforms that, among other things, proposes the suppression of several entities that were created while governing the self-styled citizen’s revolution.

The changes could even be submitted to popular election in a consultation as reported EXPRESO, on Saturday. The authorities are receiving proposals, collecting documents and listening to experiences, commented Trujillo.

The Participation Council was created, basically, with two objectives: to depoliticize the designation of the control authorities and to establish social vigilance in the fight against corruption.

For the director of the Corporación Participación Ciudadana, Ruth Hidalgo, neither was fulfilled and assures that it was something that was seen to come from before its creation, in the Constituent Assembly of Montecristi, in 2008. “Our position, from the beginning, was that the Council should not be created and that it should not exist. It has been an organ that did not comply with the spirit for which it was created, which was to take the designation of control authorities out of hand, but did exactly the opposite, “she told this newspaper.

Former President Rafael Correa himself had an ambiguous perception regarding the organization, which was always accused of being aligned with its policies. In 2015, for example, he criticized a lack of commitment to fight corruption. But in 2017, when the criticism of the actions of the Participation advisers intensified for 10 years, the former president, who resides in Belgium, defended the validity of the organization, although he admitted that he was criticized for “having wrongly chosen” Carlos. Polit, as controller.

In the Assembly there are also criteria that point to the dissolution of the CPCCS.

Héctor Yépez, from CREO and president of the Participation Commission, believes that this entity has helped to subdue the country’s institutions, when the offer to citizens was reversed. “It seems to me that this is the last opportunity that the citizens have given to the corresponding authorities so that the Council reaches institutionality and gains the independence that it has lacked from the beginning. If not, there is always the option to eliminate it, as has been my proposal from the beginning, “he said. (I)

Source: https://www.expreso.ec/actualidad/cpccs-reformas-constitucion-consultapopular-miembros-CB2399895