Rafael Correa is ratified as a candidate for the vice presidency of Ecuador

Rafael Correa would seek to be a candidate for vice president in 2021 3:31

(CNN Spanish) - With one day remaining until the closing of the primary elections in Ecuador within the political parties and movements to designate the candidates for president, vice president and legislators, the Democratic Center movement confirmed former minister Andrés Arauz and former president Rafael Correa as candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency of the Republic respectively.

Correa, who has resided in Belgium since 2017 and is facing 8 years in prison for bribery, will participate together with Andrés Arauz, who will be the presidential candidate of Correísmo. Arauz is an economist and a former minister in the Correa government.

Through a statement, the Democratic Center reported that the internal process of primaries was carried out electronically and that the objective of the candidates is the "recovery of the Homeland."

• MORE: Rafael Correa announces his aspiration to the vice presidency in the 2021 elections in Ecuador

Last Tuesday, former President Correa, during the launch of the candidacy, said that Arauz is prepared and has the capacity to assume the challenge of the presidency. “Count on me wherever I am. We believe in youth, we work for and for their well-being. Andrés Arauz will be the youngest president in history ”, added Correa.

The announcement of the electoral binomial comes a few days after a court of the National Court of Justice decides whether to admit the appeal presented by the defense of former President Correa for the sentence to 8 years in prison for the crime of bribery. It is the last judicial resource in Ecuador that the defense seeks to exhaust to achieve a review of his sentence.

The Ecuadorian electoral law prevents a candidate from being able to register if he has an enforceable sentence, that is, he has passed the cassation stage and the sentence is ratified.

Rafael Correa