POLITICSECUADOR
Ecuador: Leftist Luisa Gonzalez leads presidential election
Published 12 hours agoPublished 12 hours agolast updated 46 minutes agolast updated 46 minutes ago
Leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzalez will face right-wing businessman Daniel Noboa at a second round election in October. Sunday’s vote was tense after a top candidate was gunned down in broad daylight weeks earlier.
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Luisa Gonzalez celebrating after the initial election results on Sunday
Luisa Gonzalez was the favorite to win according to opinion pollsImage: Franklin Jacome/Getty Images
Leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzalez led the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election on Sunday, officials said after three quarters of the ballots were counted.
Gonzalez, an ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa, received 33% of the vote so far.
“We are celebrating because we are making history, even though so many of us have been ignored, today we begin moving toward a different history,” Gonzalez told supporters her at a post-election event in Quito.
Coming in second was right-wing candidate Daniel Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, with 24% of the vote so far.
“The youth candidate, of the people who are seeking hope, who want to change Ecuador, has triumphed,” the 35-year-old told journalists in Guayaquil.
The two candidates will now go head-to-head at second round election on October 15.
Daniel Noboa will move on to the second roundImage: Jimmy NEGRETE /API/AFP
The election was called after conservative President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly in May to escape an impeachment trial just two years after being elected.
The campaign was dominated by pledges to tackle a spike in crime and boost the struggling economy.
Ecuador’s 13 million eligible voters will also elect 137 members of the National Assembly and have their say in two environmental referendums.
Voting in Ecuador is mandatory for citizens between the ages of 18 and 64.
Security forces were out in full force on SundayImage: Carlos Noriega/AP/dpa/picture alliance
Authorities report peaceful vote
The president of Ecuador’s National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, said there were no reports of violence at voting centers and said the election was “peaceful and safe” after polls closed.
Security had been a major concern during the contest, particularly following the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio outside a campaign rally on August 9.
Authorities deployed more than 100,000 police and soldiers to protect the vote from more violence.
Soldiers and police searched voters at entrance points of polling stations, while some of the presidential candidates wore bulletproof vests and helmets to cast their ballots.
Ecuador pays tribute to assassinated presidential candidate
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Ecuador’s National Electoral Council said a website set up for citizens living abroad to cast their votes had been hit by multiple cyberattacks originating from countries including China, India and Bangladesh.
However, it said this did not affect the overall integrity of the vote.
Who are the candidates running for president?
Eight candidates are in the race to become the next president, with Gonzalez the favorite to win.
She has promised to bolster the economy and expand social programs.
Law and order candidate and millionaire Jan Topic pledged to wipe out criminal gangs and build more prisons, earning him the nickname “Ecuadorian Rambo.”
Otto Sonnenholzner has promised that criminals who use violence will be shot by police under his governmentImage: Marcos Pin/AFP
Other prominent candidates included German-born Otto Sonnenholzner, a right-wing former vice president, and Yaku Perez, an Indigenous man who promised to defend the environment and water from mining and oil extraction.
The party of slain candidate Villavicencio fielded investigative journalist Christian Zurita as his replacement in the race.
Two environmental referendums
Ecuadorians also voted in two key referendums alongside Sunday’s election.
One vote asked whether to stop oil extraction in the Amazon jungle.
The other asked whether the exploitation of minerals such as gold, silver and copper in forests of the Andean Choco should be banned.
Ecuadorians also voted in two referendumsImage: Alejandro Baque/The NEWS2/ZUMA/picture alliance
What happens next?
To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the votes, or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent.
Since no candidate won outright, a runoff vote will take place between Gonzalez and Noboa on October 15.
The winning presidential candidate will govern for the remainder of Lasso’s unfinished term, a period of less than two years.
zc, nm/jcg (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)
