The people of Ecuador are rising up to refound their country as a pluri-national homeland for all. This inspiring movement, with Ecuador's indigenous peoples at its heart, is part of the revolution spreading across the Americas, laying the groundwork for a new, fairer, world. Ecuador Rising aims to bring news and analysis of events unfolding in Ecuador to english speakers.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Ecuador's president says he likely would resign if constitution measure fails

IHT, April 10, 2007

QUITO, Ecuador: President Rafael Correa said Tuesday he would think "very seriously" about quitting if Ecuadoreans reject his push for a new constitution.

A day after expressing confidence that voters in Sunday's referendum would come out in favor of creating an assembly to rewrite the country's constitution, Correa, in a television interview, echoed earlier statements that he would resign if the assembly is shot down.

"I will have to think about it," he said. "We have to think about it very seriously. I would not stay in the post."

In February, Correa said he would "simply have to go home" if the referendum fails.

"If the mandate this Sunday is: we want the same as always, I would tell them there is the open road," he said Tuesday.

Earlier this week Correa said the possibility the measure would fail was "very remote."

A leftist economist, Correa won a November election runoff as a charismatic outsider who pledged to lead a "citizens' revolution" against a political establishment widely seen as corrupt and incompetent.

Correa's insistence that the Constituent Assembly have the ability to fire any elected official — including himself — plunged the country into a month of legal chaos that culminated in the firing of 57 lawmakers by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

On Tuesday the legislature convened for the first time in over a month with 63 lawmakers, most of them alternates.

Congressional president Jorge Cevallos said he opened the session because he was obligated to "stand with the Ecuadorean people and deliver a functioning Congress."

Last week, Correa said the assembly should not dissolve Congress but only limit its functions, apparently softening his position.

If approved, the 130-member Constituent Assembly would convene for 180 days beginning in November.

Correa's push for the assembly and a new constitution follows similar paths taken by fellow leftist presidents in the region, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

No comments:

Post a Comment