Constitutional Court rejects another challenge to Noboa; Strong earthquake rocks Guayaquil; Mazar reservoir continues to fill and nears capacity

A Constitutional Court panel has unanimously dismissed a legal challenge to President Daniel Noboa for non-compliance with Article 93 of the constitution which requires candidates for reelection to take a leave of absence during election campaigns. In its Saturday decision, the judges said the plaintiff, Gabriel Pereira, did not comply with the requirement that the case must first be filed with the Contentious Electoral Tribunal.

The judges said the rejection of the suit was based on a procedural mistake, not on the merits of the challenge.

The Mazar reservoir was only eight meters below capacity on Monday morning.

The case is the third filed with the court by Pereira, a private practice Machala attorney. On Friday, another panel of judges dismissed a challenge to Noboa’s decree 494 in which Noboa replaced Vice President Veronica Abad with Cynthia Gellibert, but agreed to consider presidential decree 500 which temporarily transferred presidential powers to Gellibert while Noboa campaigned.

It is not clear if the court will proceed with consideration of the decree 500 complaint following Noboa’s Sunday decision to rescind it. In a statement, the president said: “It is necessary to end early my claim for temporary absence provided by Decree 500,” saying its provisions were completed.

He added that his decision was also prompted by Saturday’s murder of Arenillas Mayor Eber Ponce, in El Oro Province.

Pereira and several constitutional law experts criticized the court’s decisions, claiming the issues should be resolved before the February 9 election.

Strong earthquake rocks Guayaquil
A powerful 5.7 magnitude earthquake near Guayaquil was felt in locations throughout Ecuador Sunday night, including in Cuenca and Quito. The tremor was centered about 5 kilometers from Durán at a depth of 84 kilometers.

Early reports indicated only minor damage, but the Guayaquil risk management office said a full assessment would be made Monday.

Mazar reservoir continues to fill
The Mazar reservoir that powers three of the country’s largest hydroelectric generation plants is only eight meters from maximum capacity. Despite a decrease of rainfall since Thursday, the reservoir continues to rise at a rate of about one-and-a-half meters per day, standing at 2,145 meters above sea level Monday morning. The maximum level is 2,153 meters.

Since late October, Mazar has risen 46 meters due to above-average rainfall in the hydrological recharge area of Azuay and Cañar Provinces.

When fully operational, the Mazar plants produce about half of Ecuador’s electricity.