Left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez, runner-up to ex-president Rafael Correa in exile, tops the first round of the presidential election in Ecuador on Sunday evening, suggesting a second round for this extraordinary ballot marked by the assassination of the president. one of the favorites and the violence of the narcos rampant in the country.
Ms. Gonzalez has 33% of the votes on 74% of the ballots counted. Right-wing candidate and unexpected challenger Daniel Noboa comes second with 24%, according to the electoral authority (CNE).
Journalist Christian Zurita, who replaced centrist candidate assassinated last week Fernando Villavicencio at short notice, is in third place with 16%.
Jan Topic, a former member of the French Foreign Legion with a tough rhetoric against criminal groups, comes fourth with 14%, followed by ex-vice president Otto Sonnenholzner (6.90%) and indigenous candidate Yaku Perez (3%) .
The ballot took place 11 days after the death in Quito, under the bullets of a commando of Colombian hitmen, of the centrist candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a 59-year-old ex-journalist and one of the favorites of the ballot.
Some 82% of the 13.4 million voters went to the polls, according to the electoral commission (CNE), which welcomed a “massive” mobilization and an uneventful ballot, just marked by “difficulties” quickly overcome for the vote by internet from abroad.
Ecuadorians voted to elect their president, their vice-president and the 137 deputies of the unicameral Congress. These preliminary results augur a second round on October 25.
At their announcement, Ms. Gonzalez, the only woman in the running for this election, celebrated a “great triumph”. She has long been the favorite in the polls, at least until the sudden death of Mr. Villavicencio.
“Thank you for this citizen victory (…) there will be a great second definitive victory”, she proclaimed on the social network X (ex-Twitter).
“More than ever, let’s all continue together!” celebrated his likely future second-round opponent, Mr. Noboa. Supporter of the strong method against gangs, the youngest of the election (35 years old) is the son of one of the richest men in the country, rather liberal and resolute opponent of Correism.
“I accept the election results, but not without highlighting the excellent performance of Daniel Noboa’s campaign over the past week,” responded the Topic candidate, saying that “Ecuador is experiencing its worst crisis of insecurity – let’s hope that the next leader will manage to save our Republic”.
“With deep gratitude to all Ecuadorians, we reaffirm that our homeland is always first,” commented candidate Zurita. “Fernando, our courageous and eternal president, we honor your memory with respect”, he launched on the X network.
With his friend and colleague Villavicencio, they had uncovered resounding corruption scandals in recent years, including the investigation that led to the conviction of Rafael Correa to eight years in prison and his departure into exile.
The eight candidates voted without incident, but still under ubiquitous escorts, and in apparent bulletproof vests for at least two of them.
Record homicide rate, massacres between rival gangs in prisons… Until recently, especially renowned for its bananas, shrimps and the emblematic Galapagos Islands, Ecuador has been contaminated in recent years by the trafficking of drugs from Colombia and Peru, organized by Mexican cartels.
To this violence is added an institutional crisis depriving the country of Congress for three months after the decision of President Guillermo Lasso to call for these early general elections to avoid his dismissal on the background of accusations of corruption.
This Sunday, Ecuadorians also voted in a referendum on whether or not to continue oil exploitation in the Amazonian forest of Yasuni (Northeast), indigenous land and unique biodiversity reserve. A “historic” consultation in the eyes of environmental and climate defenders, while Amazonian oil is the country’s leading export product and major source of state funding.
Still according to the first trends on Sunday evening, 58% of voters were in favor of suspending production.
08/21/2023 05:57:38 – Quito (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
