Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa celebrated victory yesterday after claiming that his ruling coalition had won a solid majority in a newly elected assembly that will rewrite the nation's Constitution.
"The projections are clear: The victory of the citizens is unquestionable," Correa said at a news conference, predicting that his government would win 80 out of the 130 seats up for grabs on the future Constituent Assembly.
Initial exit polls from Sunday's elections gave his camp between 70 and 79 assembly seats, according to pollsters and independent observers. But Correa insisted he would win 80 and seize control of the assembly, which is to be tasked with drafting a new constitution.
However, opposition leader Gilmar Gutierrez refused to accept defeat, saying that it was necessary to wait for officials results from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Some 9.3 million voters were eligible to cast ballots, with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by the leftist president, 44, who was elected one year ago on promises of radical change.
Voting passed off "without significant incident," according to the head of election observers from the Organization of American States, and polls closed at 5pm.
Voters had to choose from among more than 3,000 candidates vying for 130 regional delegate spots. Correa was hoping for an assembly that will dissolve the unicameral Congress, which he has called "corrupt and incompetent."
A US and European-educated former finance minister, Correa says the Constituent Assembly will stem political instability in Ecuador despite warnings his proposed economic reforms could scare off foreign investors.
The new assembly will start work on Oct. 31 and will have 180 days to write a draft constitution, which then must be ratified by a national referendum next year.
The most prominent of the 3,229 candidates in Sunday's election was Correa's nemesis, right-wing billionaire Alvaro Noboa, who was defeated in the November presidential election.
Ecuador's wealthiest man and a folksy politician, Noboa has vowed to defeat Correa, whom he calls "the communist devil."
"Correa has become a tyrant who keeps you in poverty, the tyrant who keeps you sick, the tyrant who keeps you without a home or health care. But I am here, Ecuadorians," Noboa said during his last electoral rally.
Critics say Correa is following in the footsteps of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who in 1999 successfully pushed for the election of a constituent assembly packed with his supporters.
They say that like Chavez, Correa would use the assembly to concentrate his own power and that this would scare off foreign investors.
He has proposed a constitution that would strengthen state control of the economy and cut back Congress's power to dismiss presidents.
Correa denied, however, that he would pursue a "totalitarian" or "foreign" track.
"We are good people," he said after Sunday's voting. "There are no hidden agendas and the international community knows it."
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