[NYTr] Correa wins overwhelming majority in Ecuador national assembly vote

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Reuters - Sep 30, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN3025088520070930?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Correa wins majority in Ecuador vote

By Carlos Andrade and Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa's party won an
overwhelming majority of seats in Sunday's election for a national
assembly to rewrite the constitution, four government ministers told
Reuters.

Official results have yet to be released but a 66-seat majority would
allow left-winger Correa to control the assembly, which he says should
dissolve the Congress and curb traditional political elites many blame
for instability.

"That is the information we are getting. We could have more than 70
assembly members," said Minister of Coastal Affairs Ricardo Patino, a
close aide to Correa.

Three other ministers also confirmed those figures.

Correa's party was ahead with 14 to 15 delegates out of 24 national
seats, a government-aligned exit poll said. Results for the 100
delegates chosen provincially and six by overseas immigrants were not
immediately released by pollster SP Investigaciones.

Attacking the old guard as a mafia, Correa wants the assembly to
introduce sweeping reforms but foes fear he seeks to amass power and
follow ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez by turning his Andean
country into a socialist state.

A popular former economy minister who swept into office in January,
Correa seeks to purge the influence of traditional political parties,
which are widely blamed for the chronic instability that has ousted
three presidents in a decade.

A strong mandate in the assembly would allow Correa to shore up his
legislative control, tighten state control of the central bank and push
economic and debt proposals that have already worried Wall Street
investors.

Ecuadoreans chose from more than 3,000 candidates for the assembly,
which will debate a draft of constitutional reforms put together by
academics. A final version must be approved in a popular referendum
after at least six months.

A fragmented opposition has vowed to stop Correa from using the
assembly to consolidate presidential powers and tighten his grip on key
state institutions like Chavez did soon after he was elected in 1998.

"Correa is like a demagogue, his policies are taking us toward
communism and that is exactly what we don't need," said oil industry
student Marcelo Espin, who voted for centrist assembly candidates in
Quito.

CHALLENGING ELITES

Even without his party winning an outright majority, Correa still could
form alliances with smaller, sympathetic left-wing parties to allow him
to control the assembly.

But his key rivals include the brother of former President Lucio
Gutierrez, who is popular among the poor despite being ousted during
protests in 2005, and Alvaro Noboa, banana magnate and one of the
country's richest men, who Correa defeated in last year's election.

Correa dismisses claims he wants to consolidate power. But some
ministers and candidates have given mixed signals on reforms they want.
The president says he wants to develop a 21st century socialism -- as
does Chavez -- but officials say they have no plans for a
nationalization program.

A U.S.-educated former college professor, Correa stepped into the
political spotlight more than a year ago when he captured attention
with a vow to challenge old elites.

The vast array of assembly candidates, including a masked man calling
himself the punisher, a priest and beauty queens, and a complex seat
assignment confused voters and official results could take days to
tally.

Correa's drive for an assembly was marred by clashes with Congress as
opposition lawmakers sought to preserve their influence. A court fired
57 lawmakers for blocking the assembly proposal and Congress was
briefly suspended after they fought with police.

(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto)