13 million Ecuadorians are called to vote

13 million Ecuadorian citizens are called this Sunday to determine the political direction of the country for the coming years, although this time they will do it in advance by the premature fall of Guillermo Lasso’s government and after a campaign marked by insecurity, exemplified in the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio while there was barely a week and a half left for the appointment with the polls.

Lasso took office in May 2021, with the aim of broadening horizons in different parts of an Ecuador that in the following two years virtually constant political and social crisis. The improvement in macroeconomic statistics has failed to control levels of inequality and poverty, one of the former banker’s major goals.

The last straw for the fragile stability of the South American country came in May this year, with the start of a process politician against the president for alleged corruption. Lasso defended his innocence and accused the National Assembly – dominated by the opposition and with which he had already experienced all sorts of struggles – turning the country into a “serious crisis“.

With this argument he invoked what is known as ‘dead cross‘, a constitutional privilege that implied the dissolution of parliament at the cost of calling presidential elections.

There could be a second round on October 15

The rival to beat in this election is the representative of Revolución Ciudadana, Luisa Gonzalez, Political heir to former President Rafael Correa and that he led all the polls in recent months, with vote intent hovering around 30% in some cases.

If projections are met and an absolute majority is not achieved, there will be a second round, which could be on October 15, although no one dares take anything for granted, as the code of democracy prohibits the distribution of polls ten days before the election. the elections. The latest polls came out on August 10, the day after the Villavicencio murderleader of the Build movement.

The aspirant of Movement builds He was among the applicants with the fewest options, but the party has not thrown in the towel and presents itself to the journalist ‘in extremis’ Christian Zurita, whose candidacy was only approved by the CNE on Wednesday this week, a day before the campaign’s formal close. His support level is one of the great unknowns of the current scenario.

After the ‘correísta’ candidate, and always taking into account the official polls, a fork of candidates opens, among which stands out Yaku Perezfor Of course you can. The indigenous leader, who has tried to run for Ecuador’s presidency in the past, is bringing together several left-wing parties and, like Gónzalez, has denounced that Ecuador today is a “failed state”.

It would be on levels similar to that of Pérez Otto Sonnholznerformer vice president of Lenín Moreno’s government, while the businessman wants to surprise John subjectwell-known supporter of the heavy-handed policies of the Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele.

10 hours of voting

Polling stations remain open from 07:00 to 17:00 local time (14:00-24:00 in the Basque Country), while those living abroad can only vote online, as long as they register in advance. . Registration remains open even on voting day.

In the Basque Country, there were 8,873 registered Ecuadorians in 2020.