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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2018 
TAGS: PGOV EC
SUBJECT: ASSEMBLY PICKS UP PACE AS DIVISIONS WITHIN PAIS 
WIDEN 
 
REF: QUITO 567 
 
Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The new President of the assembly, 
Fernando Cordero, appears determined to meet the July 26 
deadline mandated by the Constituent Assembly statute. From 
June 24-26 the assembly approved a record 37 articles. 
Opposition members remain disgruntled because they consider 
Cordero,s style to be undemocratic (ref A).  The electoral 
calendar remains unclear but the campaign for the referendum 
has effectively already started. (End of summary). 
 
THE NEW LEADERSHIP AND THE OPPOSITION'S DISCONTENT 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (U) Following the resignation of Alberto Acosta (Proud and 
Sovereign Fatherland Movement or PAIS) as President of the 
Assembly on June 23 (ref A), Fernando Cordero (PAIS) was 
elected president of the assembly on June 25.  His election 
was widely criticized by opposition members who argued that 
he would have the assembly approve articles in bulk with 
little discussion in order to meet the July 26 deadline. 
 
¶3. (U) Aminta Buenano (PAIS), was elected First Vice 
President with Leonardo Viteri (Social Christian Party - PSC) 
finishing second. The rules for the internal governing of the 
assembly do not include specific language on filling 
permanent vice presidential vacancies.  Article 9 of the 
Assembly statute says that the second vice presidency is to 
be assigned to the runner up in the election for first vice 
president. The opposition interpreted the statute to mean 
that Viteri had been elected to the second vice presidency. 
However, Assembly President Cordero called for a vote on the 
second vice president, which was won by Cesar Rodriguez 
(PAIS). Cordero's decision infuriated opposition members, who 
denounced Cordero.  On June 27, the assembly's communications 
office issued a highly partisan message criticizing the 
opposition, noting that "the constituent assembly has once 
again been a victim of the old political parties." 
 
¶4. (U) On June 25, Cordero met with the leaders of all 
parties represented in the Assembly to discuss the remaining 
Assembly schedule.  The leaders of PSP, PSC, and PRIAN -- the 
three largest opposition blocs -- chose not to attend. 
Leaders who did attend agreed to discuss different proposals 
with the members of their political parties in the plenary. 
 
¶5. (U) Opposition members resorted to symbolic measures to 
express their discontent with the new PAIS leadership.  On 
June 26, some opposition assembly members wore black attire 
to honor "the death of democracy."  On June 27, assembly 
members Rafael Estevez (ex Patriotic Society Party - PSP) and 
Andres Pavon (Institutional Renewal Action Party - PRIAN) 
sewed several stitches with a needle across their lips, 
drawing blood,  to symbolize that the new plenary leadership 
violated their right to speech. 
 
PROGRESS ON THE CONSTITUTION 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) In three days (June 24-26), the assembly approved 37 
articles, upping the total approved thus far  from 57 to 94 . 
 As of June 29, there were 71 articles ready for final vote, 
128 ready for a second plenary debate, and 171 which have not 
reached the first plenary debate.  Three committees are still 
working on the first drafts of 60 articles. 
 
¶7. (U) On June 24, the plenary approved 24 articles on social 
organization and participation in democracy, one on civil 
rights, one on due process and general justice matters, and 
seven on political rights.  On June 26, 4 articles on the 
property regime were approved.  Highlights included: 
 
--on social organization and participation: assembly members 
introduced the notion of the "empty chair", which provides a 
position within local governments for a non-voting citizen's 
representative citizenry to express options and advocate on 
behalf of the local population.  Article six creates citizen 
participation at all levels of government through 
observatories, oversight committees, popular councils, etc. 
This article establishes the possibility of removing the 
president by popular recall.  All elected office-holders may 
only be reelected once.  The use of state resources and 
facilities during electoral campaign was prohibited, "as well 
as governmental publicity at all levels."  A transitory 
disposition determined that all political parties and 
movements must re-register.  Changes to the constitution can 
 
be made by popular referendum.  Eight percent of all 
 
registered voters must petition to put such a referendum 
before the general electorate. 
 
--on civil and social rights: the text approved by the 
plenary kept the wording of the 1998 constitution on the 
right to life, which established the inviolability of life, 
without specifically making abortion illegal.  However, it 
failed to state that life begins at conception, as President 
Correa assured supporters in the past.  In comparison with 
the current constitution, new items were included, such as 
the right to access to nutritious food with a priority given 
to locally produced products, sexual rights for women, and 
the prohibition of trafficking in persons. 
 
--on due process and justice: the approved texts expanded the 
1998 constitution, including a more detailed definition of 
the right to defense, a stipulation that the corresponding 
embassy must be notified about the detention of foreigners, 
ordering judges to give priority to other cautionary measures 
before sentencing individuals to detention, eliminating any 
statute of limitations on charges of sexual exploitation, 
rape, trafficking in persons and murder of children, and 
establishing a system to protect and assist victims, 
witnesses, and participants in the prosecutorial process. 
 
--on political rights: optional suffrage was granted to 
citizens from 16 to 18 years of age, to Ecuadorians living 
abroad, to members of the Police and the Armed Forces, and to 
detainees without sentence. 
 
--on the property regime: seven types of property are 
recognized and guaranteed (public, private, communal, state, 
associative, cooperative, and mixed).  The article on 
intellectual property prohibits the appropriation of 
collective knowledge and genetic resources from the country's 
"biodiversity". 
 
OTHER BUSINESS 
-------------- 
 
¶8. (U) On June 10, the plenary passed several measures to 
speed up the process of writing up the reports for second 
debate and allowed for changes in the agenda up to one hour 
before the plenary meeting.  On June 13, the assembly 
appointed Pedro Solines Chacon as the provisional 
Superintendent of Companies.  On June 25, the plenary passed 
a resolution condemning the European Parliament's June 18 
resolution on migration , calling it a "criminalizing 
discriminatory and xenophobic measure." 
 
THE CHALLENGES AHEAD 
-------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Constituent Assembly statute states that the 
referendum on the new constitution has to be approved by 50 
percent plus one of all votes cast, which includes annulled 
and blank votes.  According to the June opinion poll 
conducted by Informe Confidencial, Inc. only 37% of 
respondents said that they had already decided to cast a yes 
vote on the constitution that is being written in 
Montecristi.  (Note: The Informe Constitutional poll was 
taken before Acosta's resignation, but published afterwards.) 
 
 
¶10. (U) In addition to any fallout from the Acosta 
resignation, PAIS assembly members continue to disagree on 
specific constitutional matters. On June 27, PAIS assembly 
member Tatiana Hidrovo decided to temporarily relinquish the 
presidency of the Territorial Organization Committee in order 
to be able to freely support a thesis that PAIS opposed.  On 
June 6, PAIS assembly members Chuji and Panchana generated a 
controversy in the biodiversity committee over the right to 
water, on which the assembly's governing committee member 
Martha Roldos (RED) had to intervene. 
 
¶11. (C) President Correa remains obsessed with delivering 
results quickly.  The government's advertisements on 
television - which broadcast the governments achievements - 
are being broadcast with greater frequency.  In his weekly 
radio addresses Correa frequently criticizes his staff for 
not producing results at the pace of the "citizen 
revolution."  Minister of Transportation and Public Works 
Jorge Marun told embassy officers that Correa's pressure was 
so intense and so public that it encouraged everyone else to 
make demands to him. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Correa administration in general remains 
 
preoccupied with surveys. In his June 17 radio address, 
Correa harshly criticized the polling company Cedatos ) 
which often produces polling results unfavorable to the 
government ) and suggested assembly members adopt new 
legislation to regulate pollsters.  Curiously, on June 24 
Ecuador's Revenue Services closed Cedatos for 10 days. 
 
DATE FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS STILL UNCLEAR 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal's (TSE) National 
Director of Training Programs, Hector Galarza, told poloff 
that it would not be possible for the Supreme Electoral 
Tribunal to organize the referendum before September 28. 
According to Galarza, the much-awaited mandate on elections 
will only establish deadlines for the referendum.  In his 
view, the electoral mandate will determine that the 45-day 
deadline included in the statute for the constituent assembly 
will be effective approximately 15 days after the approval of 
the constitution in the final  plenary session. 
 
¶14.  (C) If the constitution is approved by referendum, the 
organization of general elections will be a hard and lengthy 
task.  All political parties would have to re-register to 
participate in the general election.  Under the current 
legislation, that would require a major effort for parties to 
obtain signatures and fill out membership cards.  Gustavo 
Tamariz, TSE Director of Political Organizations told poloff 
that such a process could take eight months, although Correa 
seems intent on holding the election as early in 2009 as 
possible. 
 
¶15. (U) While the referendum campaign has not yet started 
officially, President Correa has repeatedly called upon 
Ecuadorians to support the constitution and to support 
change, and Lucio Gutierrez, leader of the PSP, has 
campaigned for a no vote.  Both of them received warnings 
from the TSE. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶16.  (C)  Though PAIS disagreements have captured media 
attention in recent weeks, the shock of Acosta's resignation 
and the fallout from his decision continue to frame the 
discussion of the Constituent Assembly's work among the 
chattering class.  Both Correa and Acosta have toughened 
their comments in recent days, suggesting that their 
political differences may be more profound than initially 
thought.  The latest surveys on the constitutional referendum 
suggest that the Correa administration will have to work 
harder than they once expected to achieve a "yes" vote for 
the constitution.  It remains to be seen the extent to which 
tensions within the PAIS bloc amy persist in weeks and months 
ahead, and whether hastily crafted constitutional clauses 
will result in ill-considered texts that the "no" vote forces 
will be able to exploit. 
Jewell