journalist Christian Zurita went this Sunday to the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador to present his registration as presidential candidate substitute Fernando Villavicencio, was murdered last Wednesday at the exit of an election rally in Quito.
Zurita attended, accompanied by Andrea González Náder, the candidate for vice president who completed the Villavicencio binomial and had been chosen on Saturday by the Construye movement as the first option to take the place of the assassinated candidate.
Zurita worked with Villavicencio to uncover corruption cases
Given the impossibility of González Náder relinquishing his candidacy for Vice-President to accept the in-person candidacy, Construye announced this on Sunday Zurita would take the place of his partner and colleague Villavicencio.
The journalist who worked hand in hand with Villavicencio on journalistic investigations into corruptionregistered his candidacy a few minutes before the start of the debate between the presidential candidates, where the lectern corresponding to Villavicencio was empty.
Villavicencio, the great absentee in the debate between the candidates
zurita could not participate in the discussion Villavicencio to step in as Villavicencio’s replacement as the CNE must first evaluate and confirm his candidacy despite being present at the venue where the meeting took place.
If Zurita’s candidacy is finally accepted by the CNE, his photo will not appear on the ballots, while Villavicencio’s photo will follow, as they were all printed before his assassination, committed by alleged Colombian hitmen who shot him dead when he was in vehicle rose . .
Wave of insecurity caused by drug mafia in Ecuador
Villavicencio was one of the eight presidential candidates registered for the extraordinary elections next Sunday, August 20th.
The murder happened in the middle of a wave of uncertainty attributed organized crime and drug trafficking This has already cost the lives of other politicians and candidates, such as the mayor of Manta, Agustín Intriago.
The winners of these elections will complete the 2021-2025 period, interrupted by the appointment of the incumbent President last May, william lasso, the constitutional mechanism of “crusader death” by which he dissolved the National Assembly (parliament) by an opposition majority just as he was preparing to vote on his dismissal.
In doing so, he forced the call for extraordinary elections, which also resulted in a reduction in his mandate, which he does not want to complete until 2025, as the current head of state is no longer standing for re-election.