Voting begins in presidential runoff election – DW – 10/15/2023

Voters in Ecuador headed to the polls on Sunday for a second round of voting to choose a president to lead the country.

Leftist attorney Luisa Gonzalez faces right-wing businessman Daniel Noboa. The two advanced to the runoff by finishing ahead of six other candidates in theelection’s first round on August 22.

Polls will close late afternoon, and results were expected Sunday evening.

Early election called after president dissolves legislature in May

The election was called after conservative President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the country’s legislature in May to escape an impeachment trial just two years after being elected.

The winning presidential candidate will govern for the remainder of Lasso’s unfinished term, which is a period of one and a half years, or until 2025.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador for people ages 18 through 64 and 13 million are eligible to vote. Those who don’t comply face a fine of about $45.

Runoff election: Gonzalez vs Noboa

Luisa Gonzalez, 45, was handpicked by former President Rafael Correa and belongs to the left-wing ‘Citizen Revolution’ party. 

She has held various government jobs during the decade-long presidency of Rafael Correa, her mentor, and was a lawmaker until May.

At the start of the campaign, she said Correa would be her adviser, but she has recently tried to distance herself from Correa to court voters who oppose the former president.

Noboa, 35, is an heir to a fortune built on Ecuador’s main crop, bananas. His father runs a massive banana company and even tried to run for the presidency on five occasions.

But the elder Noboa has been unsuccessful at his attempts. Daniel Noboa’s political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the country’s legislature and chaired its Economic Development Commission.

Before that, Daniel Noboa held several management positions in the shipping, logisitics and commercial industries at his father’s Noboa Corp.

A rise in drug violence plagues country

Ecuadorians are headed to the polls in thebackdrop of political violence that has intensified in the last three years.

A leading presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a campaign rally in August, days before the first round of voting was meant to take place.  Villavicencio was known for his tough stance against corruption.

The law and order situation in Ecuador has deteriorated during Lasso’s presidency.

The homicide rate quadrupled in just two years, transforming the country from one of the least violent in the region to one of the most violent on the planet.

Rising news reports about criminal violence and murders, both inside and outside the prison, which undermined confidence in the government.

Lasso struggled to control conflicts between drug trafficking organizations figting for control of Ecuador’s ports — crucial routes to transport narcotics from Colombia and Peru to the US and Europe.

The expansion of organized crime also compromised Ecuador’s judiciary, further harming Lasso’s reputation.

Under Lasso’s watch, violent deaths soared, reaching 4,600 in 2022, the country’s highest in history. The National Police tallied 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023. 

rm/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa)