Correa's massive constitution victory confirmed

Digital Journal, 15 October, 2007

Ecuador's leftist President Raphael Correa has won a massive victory in elections for a constituent assembly that will allow his party to rewrite the country's constitution unhindered, according to official results released Monday.

Correa's Alianza Pais party won 69 per cent of the votes in the poll held in late September, giving him 80 out of 130 seats in the new assembly, the country's central electoral commission said with 99 per cent of the votes counted.

That absolute majority should allow Correa to make the constitutional changes he needs to create what he has described as "Socialism for the 21st Century" without being hindered by the opposition.

The election results are still not final, as votes from a few outlying territories are still being tallied. The start of constituent assembly's work was therefore pushed from October 31 to mid-November.

The assembly is charged with drawing up a constitutional text within six months, after which it would go to a referendum. The assembly's mandate could be extended for an additional three months if needed.

The country's opposition-controlled Congress is expected to be dissolved as soon as the assembly begins its work, supposedly in order to prevent Congress from interfering in the process.

There are no representatives of Correa's party in the current Congress as the president declined to field candidates in last year's election, instead seeking to create a constituent assembly to reshape Ecuador's institutions.