Ecuador chooses president amid spike in violence
Aug 21, 2023
Quito [Ecuador], August 21: People in Ecuador have voted in presidential and congressional elections overshadowed by violence.
Some 100,000 police and soldiers were deployed to protect the polls.
Earlier this month, a presidential candidate was assassinated. Others have said their campaigns have been marred by shootings.
The snap election was called after President Guillermo Lasso - a conservative former banker - dissolved parliament to avoid impeachment.
Initial results are expected later, but the outcome could take days to emerge.
There will be a second round of voting for the presidency unless one of the candidates takes 40% of the vote or opens up a 10-point lead in the race.
The new president will take office on 26 October and will serve only the remainder of Mr Lasso's term, a year and a half.
Among the eight politicians vying for the presidency, the frontrunner has been Luisa Gonzales, an ally of leftist ex-President Rafael Correa.
But the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio on 9 August in the capital, Quito, has made the election difficult to predict.
It has also placed the focus very much on peace and security. Bulletproof vests were in evidence during the campaign and many candidates dialled down their closing events.
On Saturday, gunfire erupted in a restaurant where conservative candidate Otto Sonnenholzner was having breakfast. The shooting happened in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, which has been overrun by drug-traffickers.
MrSonnenholzner is not believed to have been the target. But the campaign has seen a surge in gang attacks.
A similar shooting occurred during a rally held by fellow candidate Daniel Noboa. And a local politician was shot dead in northern Esmeraldas province.
Mr Villavicencio was an outspoken journalist who had uncovered corruption and denounced links between organised crime and officials.
Six men have been arrested in connection with his assassination, all of them Colombian citizens.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
