Ecuador suspended Sunday’s referendum voting in Mexico and Israel for security reasons With the law, the government wants to give the green light for the extradition of compatriots and increase penalties for people linked to organized crime, the electoral authority announced on Tuesday.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) “approved the suspension of elections in Israel (Tel Aviv)” “due to the war conflict” that “prevents the guarantee of the security” of 298 registered Ecuadoriansthe organization said in a statement.
Israel has been at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip for more than six months and suffered an unprecedented drone and missile attack from Iran last weekend.
He added that “The vote will not be held in Mexico either.”a nation with which it is in a diplomatic crisis following the police attack on the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas (2013-2017).
The CNE argued that it does not have “enough time” to allocate economic resources “to hire private security guards.” Protect the 1,338 voters living in Mexico City and Monterrey.
The incursion of police officers into the legation on the night of April 5, a few hours after Mexico granted Glass political asylum, led to the severance of diplomatic relations by the Mexican government, which asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to remove the legation from Ecuador suspend UN.
Quito claims that Glas, who was a partner of former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), is being investigated for corruption crimes and his asylum is therefore “illegal.”
The 54-year-old former vice president remains incarcerated in a high-security prison in Guayaquil, southwest, as his trial continues over his alleged diversion of public funds to rebuild coastal cities after the 2016 earthquake.
Glas was sentenced to eight years in prison for two corruption cases, one of which was against Correa, who is a fugitive and living in Belgium.
Sunday’s referendum will call on 13.6 million Ecuadorians to decide on 11 questions, covering issues such as the military’s involvement in arms control, increasing penalties for organized crime and the use of confiscated weapons to criminals, as required by law enforcement or hourly wages.
With information from AFP.
ORP
