Celebration of Daniel Noboa’s triumph in Guayaquil.MARIA FERNANDA LANDIN (Portal)
Ecuador wakes up with an elected president. In contrast to his father, Noboa, who will now be tenant of the Carondelet Palace for a year and a half, comes to power at the first attempt. Without a party organization to represent him, without a legislative bench to protect him and without large political cadres to give impetus to the state apparatus, Noboa will try to solve the country’s pressing problems. How can this be achieved? That is likely to be the question that is currently echoing in the minds of both the new head of state and his most important advisers: Anabella Azín, mother and former lawmaker, and Isabel Noboa, aunt and businesswoman who is always close to his wires. of politics and power.
Some ideas circulating relate to the main political enemy that Noboa must face immediately. This is not about the citizen revolution or its leaders. In reality, the young president’s first actions should be aimed at distancing himself, in taste and smell, from the government that is about to leave. Your first big political decision is whether you want to have enough gas for the 2025 presidential campaign in the first quarter of next year.
Although the prospect of being the youngest president Ecuador has ever had must be both startling and unsettling, the country hopes that the new head of state will lead its government pragmatically. Two or three issues on the national agenda are in full swing, have immediate results and are easy to communicate to the population. Enough and left. There is no time for disputes with the National Assembly and certainly not for a referendum, which will only obscure the short path between this transition period and the next electoral process. The climax, of course, is the fight against insecurity, which has already overwhelmed the patience and spirit of the population. A precise, effective and ruthless fight is what citizens expect. If Noboa achieves positive results on this target, the votes needed for the next election will be at a stage of maturity. Before the rains get worse, those of the El Niño phenomenon and especially the even more turbulent ones coming from politics, the young president must take head-on action against organized crime.
Something similar happens with social issues. Where the outgoing government was unable to meet basic needs, Noboa must be there to present a renewed government. Public health, priority attention to the most socioeconomically disadvantaged sectors and opportunities for higher education are some areas where Noboa can make a difference within the few months of his reign. But the new president’s pragmatism must be manifested not only in actions, but also in symbolic actions, as pointed out by CS Peirce, the father of pragmatism. At this level, Ecuador hopes for a Noboa that is close to the people, lives with the people and reflects the hope of a country that is living through one of the worst moments in its recent history.
In this regard, the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers will be the first litmus test. A good starting point would be to have state secretaries from different social and political sectors who have the legitimacy of citizens. One of the largest assets in the country and perhaps in Latin America should not be reflected in the group of those close to the government because it simply does not look good for the average citizen. In addition, with a group of advisers responsive to diverse voices, Noboa could ensure sectoral support, at least initially, which will be crucial as the heat of the elections subsides, the year-end celebrations end and the gluttony comes to an end A political system with little criticality and spirit of unity will emerge again. In the end, Noboa brings with him more political weaknesses than strengths, and in these cases, power-sharing eases the turmoil of a country where predators lie in wait for the government in power.
Ecuador is seeking a new center-right government immediately. Although it may seem, it is not a question of a reconfiguration of people’s ideological positions, but rather of the lack of a center and even less of left-wing options. What exists now, the citizen revolution, has not yet begun. Perhaps the main problem lies not in his proposals, but in the fact that there is no freedom to form new leaders above those who have been raised to the altars. Your problem, some will say. The country’s problem, will say those who want to see an Ecuador with three or four different policy options that give voters a more efficient choice.
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Santiago Basabe Serrano He is Professor of Political Science at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, FLACSO Ecuador, and President of the Ecuadorian Association of Political Science.
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