Jan Topic plans to appeal disqualification, claims it is part of Noboa’s reelection strategy

Claiming the disqualification of his presidential candidacy bears a “strong resemblance” to the suspension of Vice President Veronica Abad, Jan Topic says he plans to appeal Sunday’s ruling by Contentious Electoral Tribunal. “The decision overturned the approval of my candidacy by the Electoral Council, whose job it is to qualify candidates,” Topic said, adding he will appeal the ruling to the Constitutional Court.

Jan Topic

TCE judges claimed that Topic continued to manage contracts with the city of Manta despite the fact the companies holding the contracts are no longer listed in Topic’s name.

Based on the constitution, a candidate for public office is prohibited from holding contracts with the national or local governments.

The judges maintained that despite having transferred his shares in Telconet, Consorcio Tránsito Segura and Megadatos, Topic continued to have “effective control” of decisions made by the companies, which hold the contracts.

Topic said the issue had already been thoroughly investigated by the Electoral Council and claims the TCE judges who voted against him have ties to the government and the Noboa family.

“There is a strong similarity between my case and the vice president’s,” Topic said. “She and I both posed threats to Daniel Noboa and because of his control of the government, he is attempting to silence us. My case is also similar to that of Corina Machado in Venezuela,” he said. “Maduro knew she would beat him in a fair election so had her disqualified. Of course, he lost anyway to Machado’s surrogate.”

Topic’s campaign manager, Juan Camacho, says the TCE decision is part of Noboa’s plan to make sure his strongest election competition is the Correistas. “He [Noboa] knows that Jan would defeat him in a runoff and he prefers to face Luisa González [of Citizens Revolution] who he knows he can defeat.”