Ecuador The Executive
Figure 16. Organization of the Ecuadorian Government, 1989
The executive branch of government consists of the president,
the vice president, the ministers of state and their subordinate
officials, and Conade
(see
fig. 16). The office of the president is
located in the National Palace (Palacio Nacional) in Quito, and the
offices of the vice president and ministers at various other
locations in the capital. The president serves a four-year term and
may not run for reelection.
To be president, one must be Ecuadorian by birth, in full
possession of the rights of citizenship, and at least thirty-five
years of age at the time of the election. Election requires an
absolute majority of the votes cast by direct, universal, and
secret ballot. A candidate may not be a current or former
president, a spouse or relative of an incumbent president, vice
president in the term immediately prior to the election, a minister
of state at the time of the election, a member of the Public Forces
(composed of the armed forces and National Police) within six
months prior to the election, a minister of any religious
denomination, a government contractor, or a legal representative of
a foreign company.
The president's duties and powers include the following: to
comply with and enforce the Constitution, laws, decrees, and
international conventions; to approve, promulgate, carry out, or
challenge the laws enacted by Congress or the PCL; to maintain
domestic order and national security; to freely appoint and remove
ministers, chiefs of diplomatic missions, governors, and other
public officials, as provided by law (the president sends a list of
three candidates for high-level state positions to Congress, which
selects one); to determine foreign policy and direct international
relations; to enter into treaties and other international
agreements, and to ratify treaties and agreements after their
approval by Congress; to contract loans; to serve as commander in
chief of the Public Forces; to appoint, confer promotions on, or
remove officials of the Public Forces; to mobilize or demobilize
the Public Forces and assume command of them in wartime, and to
approve their organization; to declare a state of national
emergency and to assume emergency powers as needed in times of
crisis; to submit an annual report to Congress on the general state
of the government and the republic; and to call a popular
referendum on important questions.
The president may declare a state of emergency in general
situations involving imminent foreign aggression, international
war, or serious internal strife or catastrophe. A state of
emergency empowers the president to decree the anticipated
collection of taxes; to invest fiscal funds designated for other
areas (with the exception of health and social services) in the
defense of the state or the solution of a catastrophe, but not in
the case of an internal conflict; to move the seat of the
government; to close or open ports; to censor the media; to suspend
observance of constitutional guarantees, with the exception of such
basic human rights as the right to life, personal integrity, and
freedom from expatriation or confinement (except under certain
conditions); and to declare a security zone in the national
territory. In order to prevent arbitrary presidential declarations,
Congress or the TGC may revoke the state of emergency at any time
if the circumstances justify such action.
The president has important legislative powers as well. The
principle of "legislative coparticipation" allows the chief
executive to participate in the formation as well as the execution
and application of laws. The president may present before Congress
or the PCL any proposed law, including constitutional amendments.
Congress or the PCL must invite the head of state or a
representative to participate, without voting rights, in the
discussions of the proposed law. Within fifteen days, Congress or
the PCL must approve, amend, or reject urgent presidential
proposals on the economy. In the absence of any congressional
action, the president may promulgate any such proposal as a decreelaw , which the Congress may overrule or amend. Any bill approved by
Congress or the PCL must be submitted to the president, who has ten
days to approve or to object partially or totally to it. The
legislature may override a presidential veto by a two-thirds
majority. The chief executive, once signing a bill into law, must
promulgate it by publishing it in the Registro Oficial del
Estado (Official Register of the State) and issue regulations
within ninety days.
The president may call Congress into extraordinary session to
consider exclusively matters put before it by the head of state. In
practice, however, these sessions have not always worked to the
president's advantage. For example, although President Febres
Cordero convoked extraordinary sessions of Congress in March and
April 1985, the legislature suspended the first one after rejecting
a presidential bill to increase the monthly minimum wage by 30
percent, and the president of Congress unilaterally, and some
claimed illegally, suspended the second session without completing
its agenda. Although the Constitution does not specifically give
Congress the power to suspend an extraordinary session called by
the president, the legislative body may interpret the charter and
the laws as it sees fit.
The presidency may be declared vacant following the incumbent's
death, resignation, physical or mental incapacitation, or removal
from office by the legislature for having been absent from Quito
for thirty consecutive days or for having left the country without
congressional authorization. Under these circumstances, the
Constitution provides for subrogation or substitution of the
president. The order of presidential subrogation is the vice
president, the president of Congress, and the president of the CSJ.
The presidential order of subrogation also serves for the temporary
replacement of the vice president. In the definitive absence of the
vice president, Congress may designate a successor by an absolute
majority.
The 1979 Constitution establishes that the vice president be
elected simultaneously with the president on the same party slate
by an absolute majority, and meet the same requirements and
restrictions. The vice president also serves as president of
Conade, which plans the various policies of the state.
The ministers of state, who comprise the cabinet, discharge the
affairs of state and represent the president in matters relating to
their respective ministries. To be a minister, one must be
Ecuadorian by birth, in full possession of the rights of
citizenship, and at least thirty years of age. In 1989 the Borja
cabinet had twelve ministers and also included two secretaries of
state--the secretary general of administration and the secretary
general for public information--with ministerial rank. All
ministries also had deputy ministers, who were, with the usual
exception of the deputy minister of defense, civilians. In
addition, the president supervised more than 700 autonomous
agencies, including the National Planning Board.
Conade determines the general economic and social policies of
the state; prepares development plans for presidential approval;
and determines the general economic and social policies of the
state. The eleven-member Conade consists of the vice president,
four ministers of state appointed by the president, the president
of the Monetary Board, and one representative each of Congress, the
mayors (alcaldes), and provincial prefects (prefectos
provinciales), organized labor, the Commercial Associations
(Cámaras de Producción), and the polytechnical universities and
schools. In the event of a tie, the matter is resolved by the vote
of whoever is presiding over the meeting. Once approved by the
president, the policies adopted by Conade must be implemented by
the appropriate ministers and by government agencies.
Under a restructuring directive issued by Vice President Luis
Parodi in January 1990, Conade created the offices of
undersecretaries of Economic Planning and Decentralized Planning
and Social Development. In addition, seven general directorates
were established: Short-Range Planning, Medium- and Long-Range
Planning, Decentralized Planning, the Costa Social Development,
Technical and Financial Cooperation, and Administration. The
changes resulted from a desire to emphasize the role of planning as
a tool of the government, thus necessitating modernization and
institutional consolidation of the council.
Data as of 1989
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