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Ecuador votes on broad constitutional reform after crisis

Voters in volatile Ecuador went to the polls yesterday to decide whether to launch the broad constitutional reform process sought by leftist President Rafael Correa, who said he might quit if he loses the referendum.

Following weeks of political crisis over the balloting, the 9.2 million eligible voters are called to decide whether a national assembly should be elected to rewrite the Constitution.

Correa upped the stakes, saying just ahead of the voting he would quit and "go home" if voters do not approve the project, which he sees as a key component of his "citizens' revolution," but which critics claim is inspired by controversial reforms implemented in Venezuela by firebrand President Hugo Chavez.

Polls suggest voters are unlikely to call Correa's bluff. Pollsters Cedatos-Gallup released a survey Friday showing 66 percent plan to vote in favor of the project, while 15 percent oppose.

The referendum comes less than five months after Correa was elected on promises of radical changes, including a renegotiation of foreign debt and a review of oil contracts.

While he admits to admiring Chavez, Correa has repeatedly denied he intended to follow in the footsteps of the firebrand leftist leader.

"Nobody follows the Chavez line here, we follow the Ecuadoran line," said Correa, who claimed citizens wanted "radical changed," but ruled out the state would nationalize companies or seize private properties.

Critics claimed that, like Chavez, Correa would use the Constituent Assembly to concentrate power in his own hands and that this would scare off foreign investors.

The firing of the lawmakers by an electoral court sparked a deep political crisis in Ecuador, which has seen seven presidents come and go since 1996, three of them leaving amid tumultuous uprisings.
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