(Reuters) June 20, 2008 - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa will bolster his authority this year if voters approve a new constitution extending state control over the economy and opening the way for his possible re-election.
Here are some of the key constitutional reforms proposed by Correa's allies who control the assembly:
ECONOMY
* The state will have more control and regulation over strategic sectors such as oil, mining and telecommunications, and could tighten regulation on monopolies.
* The president will manage monetary policy instead of the central bank. Ecuador adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency in 2000, but Correa has been a critic of the move that aimed to halt the rapid devaluation of the national currency.
DEBT
* Create the concept of "illegitimacy" for some foreign loans and promote civilian audits of debt. The measure could give the government a legal base on which to challenge credits in courts.
EXECUTIVE POWERS
* Allow immediate presidential re-election for a four-year term.
* The president could dissolve Congress once during his four-year term, but immediately call for general elections to be ratified in his post.
LAND AND AGRICULTURE
* The state has the right to expropriate idle farming land to redistribute it. Bans large land-holdings.
* Bans genetically modified seeds, with the exception of some crops approved by the president and Congress.
* Some reforms already approved by the assembly include a move to forbid most international arbitration on future foreign contractual rows and ban foreign military bases in Ecuador.
(Reporting by Alonso Soto; editing by Jackie Frank)
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