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2008 Assessment

Ecuador: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Ecuador: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?	57
21	Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?	83
22	Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?	17
23	Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?	25
24	Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?	33
25	Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?	33

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Séptimo Financiamiento Arts. 57, 58

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Séptimo Financiamiento Arts. 57, 58

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Séptimo Financiamiento Arts. 57, 58

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

Score:

YES

Comments: The only case where the expenditure is limited is for individual political campaigns, which is differentiated from the expenditures of political parties before or after the term of the specific political campaign.

References: N/A

Peer Review Comments: I agree with a caveat: In next year's elections, Mr. Correa will again run for the presidency. However, since he took office in 2007, he has been notorious for the abuse of public funds on his behalf, mainly for propaganda activities through the media in all its forms. This corrupt practice limits the availability of public monies that could be spent instead in the social sectors, mainly health and education.

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

Score:

YES

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

Comments: There are a variety of funding sources for political parties recognized by the Law. Donations may come from private donors, both individuals and companies, affiliated citizens who are obligated to pay regular contributions, and from a publicly financed Fund, which is distributed proportionally according to the results of the last general elections. Only this last source is duly audited by the Tribunal. The full extent of the financing is submitted through an annual report to the Tribunal, but there is no follow-up of the other sources to determine if they are complying with the legal obligations, particularly the prohibitions regarding unlawful sources.

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Séptimo Financiamiento Art. 58

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

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of party finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of political parties\' finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for parties to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Séptimo Financiamiento Art. 62

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley de Partidos Políticos Título Tercero Organización Art. 21

Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?

21a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto Electoral y de la Propaganda Electoral Título Tercero Mecanismos de Financiación y Control Capítulo Segundo de los Ingresos

21b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments: However, there are several provisions regarding the origin of the funding and defining conflicts of interests of individuals.

References: N/A

21c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto Electoral y de la Propaganda Electoral Título Tercero Mecanismos de Financiación y Control Capítulo Segundo de los Ingresos Art. 23

21d: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

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

Comments:

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto Electoral y de la Propaganda Electoral Título Primero Ámbito de aplicación, Objetivos y Órgano de Control Art. 5

21e: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the campaign finances of individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for candidates to self-audit.$

Comments: Even though the law was conceived to implement an independent auditing process of campaign finances, the intention is undermined by the political designation of the members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto Electoral y de la Propaganda Electoral Título Tercero Mecanismos de Financiación y Control Capítulo Cuarto Presentación de las cuentas ante el Tribunal Supremo Electoral y Juzgamiento

21f: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a domestic agency or set of domestic agencies/entities formally assigned to monitor and enforce laws and regulations around the financing of individual political candidates\' campaigns. A YES score is earned even if the agency/entity is ineffective in practice. NO: A NO score is earned if there is no such agency or entity.$

Comments:

References: Ley Orgánica de Control del Gasto Electoral y de la Propaganda Electoral Título Primero Ámbito de Aplicación, Objetivos y Órgano de Control Art. 3

Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?

22a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments: There are several ways in which the regulations regarding limits on political parties and individual campaigns donations are violated. As we mentioned before, in the case of donations to political parties, there is no audit performed to determine if there are violations. For the donations to campaigns, the problem is more complex. Even though the applicable regulations are extensive and comprehensive, there are serious limitations on the capacity of the Tribunal to account all the effective donations to any campaign. Many donations are done through materials, time of personnel, promotional items (flags, t-shirts, etc.) and indirect media coverage (mainly interviews). In practice, the Tribunal is unable, and in some cases politically unwilling to measure them.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

22b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

22c: 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:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: I agree, but I wish to point out that during Mr. Correa's 2006 presidential campaign, there were accusations (not cleared up) that Mr. Chavez of Venezuela heavily contributed to the campaign, while the widely known guerrilla group FARC of Colombia is said to have also contributed to the Correa campaign with a US$100,000 donation. Mr. Correa and his cronies might easily have spent at least US$20 million for campaign purposes.

22d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: It is the responsibility of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to initiate investigations where there is sufficient evidence to presume a violation to the bylaws applicable on electoral campaigns and political parties. No particular complaint has to be submitted for the Tribunal to be obligated to review a case, and if such a complaint is presented, it has to be considered. In practice, the Tribunal does not commonly initiate investigations into the political parties and campaign finances, unless there is a formal complaint and sufficient publicity over that process.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

22e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: On several occasions the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has imposed sanctions to political parties, regarding violations to the expenditure limit of individual campaigns, mostly on presidential candidacies. In these cases, the amount of the penalty is considerably lower than the effective expenditure excess, which undermines the whole sanction process. There are no sanctions imposed to political parties regarding their regular funding.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

22f: In practice, contributions to political parties are audited.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?

23a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political candidates are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a particular candidate.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

23b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to individual candidates are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

23c: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency or entity aggressively starts investigations into allegations of wrong doing with respect to the financing of individual candidates\' campaigns. The agency is fair in its application of this power. 50 Score Criteria: The agency or entity will start investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, thought limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. 0 Score Criteria: The agency or entity rarely investigates on its own, or the agency or entity is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

23d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

23e: In practice, the finances of individual candidates' campaigns are audited.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are regularly audited using generally accepted auditing practices. 50 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are audited, but audits are limited in some way, such as using inadequate auditing standards, or the presence of exceptions to disclosed contributions. 0 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are not audited, or the audits performed have no value in tracking contributions. Audits may be performed by entities known to be partisan or biased in their practices.$

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?

24a: In practice, political parties disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

24b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The financial records of political parties are almost impossible to get.

24c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?

25a: In practice, individual political candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

25b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The financial records of political campaigns are usually presented to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal within the trimester following the election. The review process takes, on average, two months. Until this point, citizens have no access to a definitive version of the financial records. By the time citizens have a definitive version, with legal value, the results of the elections have been ratified, and the elected authorities are already in office, making any sanctioning rather complicated.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: These records are almost always impossible to get.

25c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]