Electoral court denies Veronica Abad’s appeal, suspends her political rights for two years

Ecuador’s electoral court suspended the political rights of Vice President Veronica Abad Thursday for engaging in what it said was “gender-related violence,” effectively removing her from office amid her feud with President Daniel Noboa. The Contentious Electoral Tribunal (TCE) ruled Abad had libeled Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, suspending Abad from politics for two years beyond the end of her term in May.

Vice President Veronica Abad

The sentence includes a $14,000 fine and orders Abad to issue a public apology to Sommerfeld. Abad may appeal, a process that could take up to three months.

The vice president “disseminated and positioned a message through virtual media, based on a gender stereotype that conveys and reproduces relations of domination, inequality and discrimination” to undermine Sommerfeld’s public image, Judge Guillermo Ortega said in the ruling.

It’s the latest twist in a spat between Noboa and other public officials and his former running mate dating to late 2023. It holds major political implications as Ecuadorian law orders incumbents to temporarily hand over power to alternates during electoral campaigns in a bid to level the playing field.

On Friday, following the judgement, Abad visited the National Assembly, seeking other avenues of regaining her position and allowing her to assume presidential duties while Noboa campaigns for reelection.

In a first-round vote on Feb. 9, Noboa secured a razor-thin majority of less than 15,000 votes over his main challenger, leftwing candidate Luisa Gonzalez. The runoff takes place April 13.

Noboa, a 37-year-old heir to a banana fortune, and Abad, 48, a self-declared libertarian, became estranged for undisclosed reasons during their 2023 snap electoral campaign after President Guillermo Lasso closed Congress, triggering a race to serve out his term.

Previously, Noboa sidestepped the rule to hand Abad power amid a series of legal disputes by appointing Chief of Staff Cynthia Gellibert as acting vice president.

Shortly after taking office, the president ordered Abad to leave the country to serve in diplomatic positions in the Middle East. Her description of that move as “being exiled” was included in the court’s evidence.
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Credit: Bloomberg