Ecuador, Fourth Election
in One Year
Ecuador will elect
Sunday 130 members of
the Constituent Assembly
among 3,229 candidates
at the fourth election
within 12 months.
Victors of this poll
will draft Ecuador s
20th Constitution and
will help assess the
effects of the changes
proposed by President
Rafael Correa.
After the presidential
runoffs and a poll to
approve and set up the
Constituent Assembly on
October 31, Correa hopes
to be forerunner
allowing him to make
reforms that check
decades of instability.
During his election
campaign and November
victory, this Assembly
has been his ace card to
set a new destiny for
the nation, rich with
natural resources while
its people are mostly
poor.
Correa, whose popularity
reaches 80 percent,
hopes to be confirmed
with majority support
from nine million voters
for the government
Alianza Pais, giving him
a smashing victory over
a weak opposition that
still has economic
power.
That would help realign
power structure, give
the state a more
relevant role in the
economy and promote free
education and health
care for all.
Correa considers the
Constituent Assembly a
necessity to wipe out
the conservative parties
and end the neoliberal
model that entrenched
inequality and worsen
poverty. |
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