The president of Ecuador and candidate for reelection, Daniel Noboa, closed his electoral campaign on Thursday, February 6, without delegating his position to his vice president Verónica Abad, with whom he is in conflict. Despite a recent ruling from the Constitutional Court indicating that she must be the one to replace the head of state in case of absence.
Noboa, candidate from his party Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN), maintained his stance of not requesting a leave of absence from the National Assembly (Parliament) controlled by the opposition. Instead, he left the Presidency in the hands of Cynthia Gellibert, the secretary of the Public Administration, whom he appointed by decree as "acting vice president."
Ecuador's electoral law requires that authorities in immediate reelection request leave during the campaign. While the Constitution states that, in the event of the president's absence, it is the vice president who must substitute him. Despite this, Noboa did not request leave and issued decrees, now declared unconstitutional, communicating his absence to pass his functions to Gellibert.
After the Constitutional Court's ruling, the president reaffirmed his decision to continue delegating the position to Gellibert. He considers that the decree appointing her as "acting vice president" has not been declared unconstitutional and that it remains in effect to fulfill the functions of vice president and temporarily assume the presidency.
Vice president Abad has described the decrees as a "coup d'état" and has requested the OAS to apply the Inter-American Democratic Charter. She believes that constitutional order has been broken in Ecuador and calls for action against Noboa.
The conflict between Noboa and Abad dates back to the electoral campaign of the extraordinary elections of 2023 and has intensified with legal resources and lawsuits in various judicial jurisdictions in Ecuador. Daniel Noboa seeks his reelection for a full term (2025-2029) against fifteen other candidates, among whom the correísmo candidate, Luisa González, stands out as his main rival.
