Ecuadorean presidential candidates hit the campaign trail ahead of February election

Record ID: 163111

  • Title: Ecuadorean presidential candidates hit the campaign trail ahead of February election
  • Date: 4th January 2017
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (JANUARY 3, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLITICAL ANALYST, FRANCISCO ROCHA, DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLITICAL ANALYST, FRANCISCO ROCHA, SAYING: "If the national government has more than 35 or 36 percent, they could win in the first round, which I see difficult at this point because of the wear and tear of being in power for 10 years and because of the whole chain of corruption. As much as the government tries to pass it on by saying, 'We're not the corrupt ones, it is other sectors.' But that is difficult to sustain and they are in a bind, yes. I don't see a candidate, at this point, winning in the first round." QUITO, ECUADOR (RECENT) (REUTERS) ECUADOR'S PRESIDENT, RAFAEL CORREA, PRESENTING MORENO AS CANDIDATE OF ALIANZA PARTY GENERAL VIEW OF ALIANZA PARTY RALLY QUITO, ECUADOR (JANUARY 3, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLITICAL ANALYST, FRANCISCO ROCHA, SAYING: "But in the second round, I think the others, those who can't hope for the hard vote the government has; somewhere around 65 and 68 percent and up to 70 percent, would vote against government candidates. And therefore something similar to what happened in Peru would occur."
  • Embargoed: 19th January 2017 17:41
  • Keywords: Ecuador president presidential election Lenin Moreno Guillermo Lasso Rafael Correa CREO ALIANZA
  • Location: QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
  • City: QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA0025XO1O3N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Eight candidates competing for Ecuador's presidency took to the streets on Tuesday (January 3) to measure their strength in the formal start of the campaign for the February elections, in which the candidate backed by President Rafael Correa is the favourite.
    Former Vice President Lenin Moreno, a 63-year-old politician who moves about in a wheelchair, leads the latest polls thanks to a conciliatory speech and the promise to continue with the social work promoted by Correa.
    Moreno kicked off his campaign by meeting with pensioners and touring a nursing home in capital Quito.
    He also toured a maternity ward where he handed out roses to mothers who had just given birth.
    Although, Moreno is the front-runner, political analyst, Francisco Rocha, said he believes Correa's Alianza Party candidate will not win outright in the first round.
    "If the national government has more than 35 or 36 percent, they could win in the first round, which I see difficult at this point because of the wear and tear of being in power for 10 years and because of the whole chain of corruption. As much as the government tries to pass it on by saying, 'We're not the corrupt ones, it is other sectors.' But that is difficult to sustain and they are in a bind, yes. I don't see a candidate, at this point, winning in the first round," Rocha said.
    Rocha said he believes the candidate to come second in the first round, will finally be victorious in the second round comparing it to elections in Peru that saw current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski narrowly defeat Keiko Fujimori after he has only won 20 percent of the vote in the first round.
    "But in the second round, I think the others, those who can't hope for the hard vote the government has; somewhere around 65 and 68 percent and up to 70 percent, would vote against government candidates. And therefore something similar to what happened in Peru would occur," Rocha added.
    Other candidates also held rallies and met with voters as they presented their visions for the country after a decade under Correa.
    A survey conducted in late 2016 by Cedatos-Gallup gave 35.6 percent support to Moreno, who was Correa's vice president from 2007 to May 2013; followed by former banker Guillermo Lasso with 22.3 percent.
    The opposition, which comes to the polls fragmented and discredited by Correa during, has structured its campaign around greater freedoms, economic openness and lower taxes.
    Lasso, a former finance minister who is running for the presidency for the second time, seeks to become an option for Ecuadorians dissatisfied with Correa's policies, with the promise of economic openness and more jobs.
    About 12.8 million Ecuadorians will hit the polls on February 19 to elect the president, 137 assembly members and five Andean parliamentarians for a four-year term until 2021.
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