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2007 Assessment

Ecuador: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Ecuador: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing political financing?	86
21	Are the regulations governing political financing effective?	33
22	Can citizens access records related to political financing?	0

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing political financing?

20a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: The political parties recognized by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) cannot accept contributions from certain groups, including activities or operations prohibited by the law; contributions of foreign governments; non-governmental organizations, foreign people, financial institutions, etc that have contracts with the State. Organizations with legal proceedings against the state are not allowed to contribute in campaigns.

References: Article 21 Ley Orgánica de control del Gasto y Propaganda Electoral Ley de Partidos Políticos

20b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: In this case, there is no limit to legal contributions from natural people.

References: There are no explicit laws.

20c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: The law says that corporate contributions may not exceed the 10 percent of the maximum total of authorized electoral expense of each candidate.

References: Article 23 Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto y Propaganda Electoral.

20d: In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.

Score:

YES

Comments: Spending limits exist, but differ for each candidate, with the goal of equal opportunities.

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto y Propaganda Electoral www.tse.gov.ec

Peer Review Comments: Spending limits were recently exceeded by the major candidates/parties.

20e: In law, there are requirements for disclosure of donations to political candidates and parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to political parties or candidates. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to political parties or candidates, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments: The law of elections says political parties should make known their sources of financing. The law says that after receiving a contribution during a campaign, the party must register the contribution and provide proof. Once the campaign is over the political parties must send this information (origin of incomes, items of expenditures, contributors, etc) to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral).

References: Article 58 Ley de Partidos Políticos

Article 19 de la Ley Orgánica de control del Gasto y Propaganda Electoral

Article 21 de la Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto y Propaganda electoral

Peer Review Comments: This information is not audited and is not considered reliable. In the past, major donations have not been reported.

20f: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances of political parties and candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments: The law of elections establishes that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) should oversee of the finances of the political parties. Nevertheless the independent audit should not be carried out necessarily by the TSE.

The resolution of the TSE of 2006/08/22, published in the official register Not 339, puts the responsibility for audits with private companies. These audits are carried out, in cases of discrepancies among the monitoring agency hired by the TSE and the accounts of the political parties.

References: Resolución del Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) 2006/08/22, registro oficial No. 339.

Peer Review Comments: The "requirements" do not result in effective or professional audits.

20g: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the political financing process.

Score:

YES

Comments: Artilce 209 of the National Constitution establishes that tthe Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) is the body responsible for supervising, to controling and auditing to thepolitical parties. It is carried out by Unidad de Control.

References: National Constitution, Article 209

Are the regulations governing political financing effective?

21a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: According to the Ecuadorian laws, there are no limits to the campaign donations made by people. However, there are statutes prohibiting contributions to electoral campaigns from foreign people, and people involved in illicit business, such as drug trafficking.

The political parties and political movements have the obligation to disclose expenditures to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) through their campaign treasurers. The TSE should review them and should inquire about the sources of the individual contributions.

Citizen Participation (PC--Participation Ciudadana)does not have information about individual contributions, because the TSE give out this information until it finishes the process of reviewing the expenditures. Despite these reviews, two presidential candidates in the second round spent an excess of the electoral limit, according to PC

References: Interview with Simón Jaramillo (Participación Ciudadana)

Peer Review Comments: In law, there are limits to private donations. However, these limits have not proven effective in practice.

21b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: In accordance with the laws of Ecuador, the companies may contribute to the electoral campaign of a particular candidate as much as 10 percent of the limit of the electoral expenses. But in reality, Alvaro Noboa is the owner of a holding of companies that finance the presidential campaign. Citizen Participation (PC--Participation Ciudadana) does not agree with the contributions to the electoral process from companies, because this could create relationships between the economic groups and the political parties. The contribution of the company could take place without furthering a specific interest or could it be a "quid pro quo."

References: Interview with Simón Jaramillo (Participación Ciudadana).

Article 23 from Ley Orgánica de Elecciones.

21c: In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.

Score:

100

Comments: In the last electoral campaign, two candidates exceeded the expenditure limits. Despite the freezing of the campaign spending, the candidates created ways to continue spending more.

References: Interview with Simón Jaramillo (Participación Ciudadana).

Peer Review Comments: In the last presidential elections, the two parties that obtained more votes exceeded the legal party expenditures. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE, Tribunal Supremo Electoral) initiated a legal process against these two political organizations that resulted in fines for both. In the last elections held in Ecuador to select members for the upcoming constitutional national assembly, party expenditures were strictly controlled.

21d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) is authorized to carry out investigations with the objective to know the origin of the contributions in the electoral campaigns. But generally, the accusations are carried out by opponent candidates whose investigations have other sources.

Ramiro Gonzáles, candidate for vice-president by the political party (ID-RED) accused Rafael Correa of receiving contributions from the President Hugo Chávez. Although the candidate Rafael Correa denied this accusation and reiterated that in the first round his electoral campaign had a deficit. On the campaign's home page it specifies the contributors to its campaign. After the second round, the presidential candidate Álvaro Noboa investigated with its detectives that the contributions of Rafael's Correa campaign were illegal money, because the financiers had not declared the taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Due to those accusations, the TSE investigated the contributions to Rafael Correa's campaign.

References: www.elcomercio.com (12 de Septiembre de 2006) R. Gonzáles acusa a Rafael Correa de recibir dinero de Venezuela

www.elcomercio.com (1 de Noviembre de 2006) Correa dice no tener dinero y Álvaro Noboa llega hoy a Quito

www.elcomercio.com (1 de Noviembre de 2006) Correa busca fondos entre los empresarios

www.elcomercio.com (9 de Noviembre de 2006) Un importador financia mi campaña: Correa

www.elcomercio.com (6 de Diciembre de 2006) Noboa rompe silencio y decide indagar a Correa

www.elcomercio.com (6 de Diciembre de 2006) Los aportes para Rafael Correa serán investigados por el TSE

www.elcomercio.com (12 de Diciembre de 2006) Las denuncias de Noboa buscan descalificación de Correa

21e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) imposes sanctions when it demonstrates that there are infractions.

Álvaro Noboa had to pay a penalty, because he surpassed the electoral expense limits. Rafael Correa has to pay a penalty too, but the TSE has not finished reviewing his expenditures.

References: Interview with Simón Jaramillo (Participación Ciudadana).

21f: In practice, contributions to political parties and candidates are audited.

Score:

100

Comments: When the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) suspects infractions it should arrange an audit. But these audits are limited because the political parties send the information to the TSE (Tribunal Provincial, when the elections are at that level), this agency analyzes and reviews the documentation. Some experts indicate the necessity of external audits.

References: www.elcomercio.com (5 de Noviembre de 2006) La ley señala que debe contarse el gasto de regalos y de espectáculos,

Peer Review Comments: Independent audits should be performed simultaneously by external professionals during campaigns. This is not done.

Can citizens access records related to political financing?

22a: In practice, political parties and candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Rafael Correa publicized the contributors to his electoral campaign to the media on the home page of his party, Alianza País. The others candidates did not disclose their sources of financing. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) has not yet disclosed the sources because the review process has not ended.

References: www.elcomercio.com (12 de Septiembre de 2006) R. Gonzáles acusa a Rafael Correa de recibir dinero de Venezuela

www.elcomercio.com (1 de Noviembre de 2006) Correa dice no tener dinero y Álvaro Noboa llega hoy a Quito

www.elcomercio.com (1 de Noviembre de 2006) Correa busca fondos entre los empresarios

www.elcomercio.com (9 de Noviembre de 2006) Un importador financia mi campaña: Correa

www.elcomercio.com (6 de Diciembre de 2006) Noboa rompe silencio y decide indagar a Correa

www.elcomercio.com (6 de Diciembre de 2006) Los aportes para Rafael Correa serán investigados por el TSE

www.elcomercio.com (12 de Diciembre de 2006) Las denuncias de Noboa buscan descalificación de Correa

Peer Review Comments: The fines imposed on the two parties that obtained more votes in the latest presidential elections show that, in practice, political parties and candidates do reveal information on their financial supporters, although there may be a delay in providing information or there may be a lack of it.

22b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: During the electoral campaign the citizens could enter in the home page of Alianza País to know the donors. At the moment, if citizens were to go to the home page of the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE-Tribunal Supremo Electoral) they could not find the information because the review process has not ended.

References: Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) www.tse.gov.ec

Interview with Simón Jaramillo (Participación Ciudadana)

22c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: The public information is free. Yet, although the information is free, the problem is that the information is not available to the common citizen.

References: Monitoreo de Partidos Políticos, Coalición Acceso.

Peer Review Comments: Even if the information were available, it would be unreliable.