The Ecuadorean constitution was drafted after a constitutional process in 2007-08, then adopted by a referendum in which it had a strong majority.
Currently, what's happening is that, in the middle of a security crisis, the president has called for a popular consultation, in which several questions will be asked of the population at the same time. Most of them are related to the security issue. Slipped inside the pile is one about arbitration mechanisms between investors and states. In this context, it is of concern, because the topic is not related to what the consultation was primarily called for. This comes from the president, who has the power to do that in the current context of a presidency that will be short-lived. He does not have a majority in the assembly. He does not have a party himself. He's the son of the most important banana exporter in the country, who tried five times, unsuccessfully, to become president himself. He's now becoming president to try to speed up those matters in the middle of the security crisis.
It's concerning to me that we are not in a process whereby this would lead to a sane democratic decision on this very important question, because, in the national assembly, the most important party has 51 seats. They are the ones supporting the constitution's adoption and including those dispositions that argue against bilateral trade or investment treaties. They are the ones protecting the investors. Really, it's shaky ground on which to pursue negotiation in the current moment, because we're not sure this is going to hold for a very long time.