QUITO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Alvaro Noboa, an Ecuador opposition leader and the country's richest man, will be stripped of his seat in a powerful assembly for not disclosing his personal wealth, a top assembly member said on Saturday.
"He is out ... the rules are not a game here," the head of the assembly, Alberto Acosta, told Reuters. The 130 members of the assembly, which is rewriting the politically unstable country's constitution, had until Friday night to declare their personal assets as part of the body's rules.
Acosta said the assembly, dominated by President Rafael Correa's party, would vote next week on Noboa's removal. He would be replaced by a member of his own party, Acosta said.
A spokesman for Noboa's PRIAN party was not immediately available for comment.
Noboa, a banana mogul, was Correa's main rival in the 2006 election and has been a leading critic of the leftist government. But Noboa's party has little popular support and holds few seats in the assembly.
The assembly has up to eight months to rewrite the constitution. In November, the assembly started work by temporarily closing down Congress and taking over its powers.
Correa, widely popular among Ecuadoreans for his tough stance against the political old guard, plans to use the assembly to pass legislation to boost state control over the oil-producing country's economy.
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