Mayor Zamora will appeal court ruling that bars him from seeking reelection in November

Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora said Friday he will appeal a Contentious Electoral Tribunal judge’s ruling that bars him from running for reelection. The TCE ruling, based on the “commission of acts of gender political violence” against city councilor Diana González, suspends Zamora’s political rights for six months, a period that includes the November 29 election.

Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora

Zamora called the TCE judgement “unjustified and unfair,” and said he was confident that it would be overturned on appeal. He said his legal team has determined that the ruling lacks “technical support” and believes the full court will agree.

He added that he will continue in “all his official functions” for the city of Cuenca as the appeals process continues.

In addition to the suspension of his political rights, the TCE judge ordered Zamora to pay a fine of $12,050.

The penalty is based on charges by Councilwoman González that Zamora engaged in a “systematic campaign on social media to discredit her,” which included personal insults and attacks on her character. González’s attorneys claim that the mayor repeated the attacks, “without evidence,” in several news media interviews.

In one case, her attorneys claim, Zamora accused González of committing acts of “perversity” and insisted that she had an abortion, which she did not. At the TCE hearing, the lawyers replayed a radio interview in which Zamora called González a “a tart and a tramp.”

Zamora’s lawyers responded to the evidence, claiming he was “simply exercising his right to free speech.”

In a statement of support, Azuay Prefect Juan Cristóbal Lloret said that Zamora should not be denied the right of reelection as the result of a “personal matter that should be resolved through other legal channels.” The voters should have the right to decide on the mayor’s performance in office as well as his personal character, Lloret said.