On February 15th the Plenary of the National Assembly designated the ten legislators that will make up the Occasional Committee that will work on the legal norms to restructure the Citizen Participation Council and the repeal of the Goodwill Law, according to the pronouncement of the majority of citizenship in the referendum and popular consultation, which took place on February 4th.

In the popular consultation 63,16% of Ecuadorians supported the Executive’s proposal to reconfigure the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (Cpccs) so that their representatives can be elected by vote. Currently its members are appointed by contest. The Cpccs is an autonomous entity, created in 2008, that encourages citizen participation and social control. In addition, it designates the control authorities, namely: Prosecutor, Public Prosecutor, Comptroller, Public and People’s Defenders, Superintendents, Electoral and Constitutional Judges, National Electoral Council and Judicial Council. After approval, the National Assembly must initiate the necessary legal modifications to make this statement of the majority viable.

Regarding the Capital Gains Law, legislators must now process their repeal, after the majority voted for its cancellation. The law, which was approved by the National Assembly on December 27th, 2016, establishes a tax on extraordinary profit – which exceeds 24 unified salaries – in rural and urban properties with the aim of curbing land speculation and regulating the prices of land property. In the consultation, the Executive proposed its repeal, echoing one of the main demands of economic groups, especially the construction sector.

The committee will be composed of César Litardo, Daniel Mendoza, Elizabeth Cabezas, Montgómery Sánchez, Roberto Gómez, Ximena Peña, Fernando Burbano, Encarnación Duchi, Vicente Taiano and Guillermo Celi.

The Committee’s president, Daniel Mendoza, explained that the agency will be characterized by “broad debate and dialogue.” He also indicated that the first session of the Committee is scheduled for Monday, February 19th.