Maria Fernanda Andrade, comments in From the South that these electoral results have had a social impact and that the Citizen Revolution Party will comply to make the vote count transparent, and they have the support of the people. teleSUR
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00:00Let's now continue with the analysis of Sunday's electoral day in Ecuador.
00:04We are now joined by international law expert, Dr. Yvonne Tellez.
00:08Welcome once again to From the South. What can you tell us?
00:13Thank you very much for the invitation.
00:15Dr. Yvonne, before going into deeper details, what are your general thoughts regarding Sunday's presidential runoff?
00:22Okay. I think that what we have faced is a very strong shift between what was expected, I mean, the results that were expected between the candidates.
00:39And I'm talking that what we were foreseeing was that even whoever won the election will do it for a very small margin.
00:50And what we saw yesterday, the first greatly from this previous idea, and I think that's the legitimate reason for a candidate, González, in this case, to ask for this review of the polls.
01:16I understand, as Dr. Gestoso was announcing, I just heard him, some of the factions, some of the people that are within the RevoluciĂłn Ciudadana movement are more keen to accept the results.
01:37Some of the others, some of the others, some of the others, some of the others are just backing Luisa González in this demand.
01:43I think the international regional organizations, such as ALBA, such as CELAC, have made an announcement.
01:52And I think that for the sake of the health of democracy, it is a good, or at least it's a healthy move if the candidate doesn't feel well with how the polls went, how the elections went.
02:14And it's her legitimate right to ask for at least a revision, a review.
02:22It's under the rules of this game.
02:25And I think that for the sake of democracy, if that has to be done, just to be clear about what happened yesterday and this radical shift from what was expected before the results that we achieved, well, then this has to be done.
02:47And as I'm saying, not just because of to satisfy some just personal or political parties' interests, but for the sake of a healthy democracy, taking into account as well the difficult times that from the last eight years we have been facing regarding
03:11the institutional fractures that the state has gone through the institutional fractures that the state has gone through.
03:19Doctor, you were referring to the call, the demand of Luisa González for a recount.
03:25What legal avenues exist in the country for this process and what possible barriers might she find as she's carrying out this recourse?
03:32Of course, the Electoral Council has the obligation and has already made an announcement regarding her demands, and they have to facilitate all the measures, all the mechanisms in order for this recount to be carried out.
03:53However, there are some legal rules that have to be followed in order for this to be carried out.
04:07That means that also there has to be an objective and neutral advisory accompanying the whole process.
04:18Also, I stated that yesterday, what I believe is that if Luisa González has made this big, let's say, demand, and she has denounced this publicly,
04:37I believe that she might have very good proof in order to carry this out because it's such a big thing to do after the elections.
04:49Again, she has all the right to do it, but we're talking about, well, approximately a million votes of difference.
04:58So that means that we have to be talking about a million official registry of every vote in order to come to this demand.
05:10So I think that this is a very serious issue.
05:13It can be done, but under the legal requirements, that means that in this case, Revolución Ciudadana and Candidate González has to come to the table with all the proof that supports her demands.
05:28Doctor, what response in this context, what response has the National Electoral Council given, if it has given any,
05:35and is there a lack of credibility in the process regarding everything that has happened during the campaign coming to yesterday, the Electoral Day?
05:43Yes.
05:44Yes.
05:45First, on the first thing, yes, the official way, but has responded as a previous answer to Luisa González's demand saying that, yes,
06:03that it will provide all the facilities in order for this recount to be carried out.
06:11So, yes, they have answered, and I think that's, I mean, under the rules of democracy, that was the response that we were expecting because she has all her right to demand for this recount.
06:25However, however, responding, answering to the second part of the question, we cannot deny that the Electoral Council has faced some serious questions that we have posed regarding its distance from the current government.
06:48We have not seen the force that we will have expected as citizens regarding the transparency of its actions.
07:01There are some things that have not been clear, and that, in this case, I think, has to be surpassed in order for this recount to be transparent and to be reliable.
07:16And I think that demands for international observers to do, to accompany this recount.
07:24Otherwise, we could face a deepening of this polarization and this doubts and this critics that have imposed to the Electoral Council regarding the independence that it hasn't shown with the current government.
07:42Thank you, doctor.
07:43Thank you, doctor.
07:44We're going to stay attentive to everything that is happening in Ecuador.
07:46Thank you for your time and for your input hearing from the south.
07:49Thank you very much.
07:51Thank you very much.