Overview

• The Constitutional Court provisionally suspended Decree 148 after admitting five unconstitutionality challenges to the president’s move to call a consultation on a Constituent Assembly.
• President Daniel Noboa repealed Decree 148 and signed Decree 153 to renew his push for a popular consultation, asserting he can call it directly without additional requirements.
• The court warned that no authority can bypass constitutional mechanisms and said its measures aim to avoid risks to democracy, the rule of law, and participation rights.
• Ecuador’s electoral council opened the process for a late‑2025 referendum on questions previously cleared by the court, including lifting the ban on foreign military bases and removing the obligation to fund political organizations from the state budget.
• Noboa argues a Constituent Assembly is needed to confront organized crime and has proposed an 80‑member body elected in November to draft a new constitution with tougher anti‑narcotics provisions.