Voters back Ecuadorean president’s reform push
GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR — Leftist President Rafael Correa was headed to a major victory Sunday as Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly to support his plan to remake the nation’s system of government and weaken its discredited Congress, early returns showed.
Electoral officials said that with 18% of ballots counted, 83% of voters backed Correa’s call for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution, a measure many hope will bring economic improvement.
“A historic win has been achieved today, but many more battles remain to be won,” a beaming Correa said at a news conference after the voting ended. “The future was at stake. The motherland was at stake.”
Correa enjoys a 70% approval rating, and pollsters predicted a majority would vote yes in the referendum.
Congress, which Correa has labeled “a sewer of corruption,” has dismissed three presidents in the last decade, violating impeachment proceedings in the process.
Critics fear that the president could wind up controlling the assembly and imposing an authoritarian system similar to that in Venezuela.
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