The elections reflected citizens' concerns about insecurity, more than support for President Daniel Noboa's proposal. The Ecuadorians agreed to nine questions related to safety issues and rejected two questions related to hourly work and international arbitration.
Legal experts believe that Noboa now has no excuses to put an end to insecurity, although they warn that implementing the consultation proposals will be of little benefit if social measures are not adopted to reduce inequality.
The official counting of votes and processing of the minutes of popular consultations ended today, Friday, and the statements issued confirm the majority’s rejection of hourly work and international arbitration.
While questions on security received the support of a majority of Ecuadorians, questions on the economy and employment were rejected by nearly seven in 10 citizens, according to figures from the National Electoral Council.
After the electoral process, President Noboa restructured his government by appointing Mónica Palencia as Minister of the Interior and Michelle Sensi Contoji as Minister of Government and in charge of the Directorate General of the Center for Strategic Intelligence (CIES).
Palencia held the position of Minister of Government and responsible for the Interior Ministry, but on Monday afternoon she submitted her resignation to the Ministry of Government and assumed the Ministry of Interior. The head of the executive authority also appointed Alegria Crespo as the new Minister of Education, succeeding Daniel Calderon, who had been at the head of that ministry since November 2023.
Likewise, Noboa appointed Luis Alberto Jaramillo as the new Director General of the National Customs Service of Ecuador (Cena), who replaced María Gabriela Ochoa.
In this context, the country's energy crisis is worsening with widespread power outages, causing losses estimated at $20.6 million per hour to the productive sector.
The Minister in charge of Energy and Mines, Roberto Luque, explained that the rains had improved the basins of the hydroelectric stations, but the sector’s crisis was still continuing in the country. Luki revealed on Friday that the government is trying to cause rain by planting or bombing clouds.
The government attributes the crisis to drought, lack of investment and maintenance in the sector, as well as inappropriate decisions in recent months. With this justification, President Noboa dismissed the Minister of the Sector, Andrea Arrobo, and filed a lawsuit against her and 21 other officials for allegedly concealing basic information and paralyzing the public service.
By the way, this Wednesday, the benches of the Construi Movement and the Christian Social Party here submitted a request for the removal of former Minister Arobo, for failure to carry out her duties.
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