By Gabriela Molina, QUITO
Ecuador
Ecuador’s Vice President
Veronica Abad was suspended Saturday for 150 days accused of “unjustified
abandonment” of her duties. It comes during a public rift between Abad
and President
Daniel Noboa that could have implications for Ecuador ‘s February elections.Ecuador’s Vice President Veronica Abad
Abad’s suspension without pay
came at midnight, her lawyer Dominique Dávila told The Associated Press. Dávila
called the move “extremely serious” and claimed it may not have any legal
backing.
Abad was accused by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of not following an order in September to
temporarily transfer her from Israel — where she also serves as ambassador — to
Turkey due to the conflict, arriving eight days after the order.
Abad had argued that she was
not “properly prepared” for the trip to Turkey and that Ecuador’s government
suggested “that I leave my children in Israel to go to Turkey alone.”
The move comes at a time
of deep
tensions between Abad and Noboa who, despite running the government
together, have clashed for years establishing a sort of feud, the origins of
which are unknown.
In August, Abad filed a legal
complaint accusing Noboa and other officials of gender-based violence.
The suspension was the second
sanction against Abad in less than a week. Abad was also fined $8,500 on
Tuesday by Ecuador’s Electoral Disputes Tribunal for early election campaigning
in 2023 when she was a candidate for mayor of the city of Cuenca.
The vice president has
previously cited the Israel case and other incidents as government measures to
pressure her to resign, while the president has called her “disloyal.”
Dávila, Abad’s lawyer, said
the suspension was the latest attempt to push Abad out, calling it a “trick to
prevent the presidential succession” and something they planned to appeal.
Abad’s fate has special importance for Noboa, who hopes to run for reelection in February 2025, and will have to request a leave of absence to carry out the campaign, according to experts.
In that case, Abad would take
over the presidency, but with the recent sanctions, the pathway to her taking
the reigns would be blocked, according to constitutional lawyer André
Benavides. The expert said that while the suspension lacks strong legal backing,
any appeals process to reverse the 150 day suspension would take longer than
the suspension period.
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