The former right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso was elected president in Ecuador on Sunday April 11, after a close fight. At 65, he converted his third try and will succeed the unpopular Lenin Moreno, who will complete his four-year term in May. Ahead of his left-wing opponent by more than five points, he obtained 52.51% of the vote, against 47.49% for Andrés Arauz, according to 93.14% of the votes counted.
“On May 24th, we will assume with responsibility the challenge of changing the destiny of our homeland and to reach for all the Ecuador of opportunities and prosperity to which we aspire”, said the curator.
His 36-year-old rival admitted defeat: “I will congratulate him on the electoral triumph obtained today and will demonstrate to him our democratic convictions”, did he declare. After the closing, Mr. Arauz had nevertheless risked to advance the official results and to declare himself the winner, citing an exit poll giving him 1.6% ahead of his rival.
Election day went off without incident, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Two candidates neck and neck
Some 13.1 million voters were called upon to separate Mr. Arauz from Mr. Lasso, previously defeated by Mr. Correa, who ruled the country for ten years until 2017, and then by Mr. Moreno.
Mr Arauz, candidate for the Union pour l’Esperance (UNES) coalition, won the first round on February 7 with 32.72% of the vote, against 19.74% for his rival from the Create Opportunities movement (CREO ).
The results of the first round were contested by Yaku Pérez, a left-wing indigenous lawyer, who came third with just 0.35% behind Mr. Lasso. Against a background of polarization between Corréistes and anti-Corréistes, his party, Pachakutik, had therefore promoted the null vote, which reached 16% on Sunday, according to the partial results published by the CNE, against 9.55% in February.
The director of the Market Institute, Blasco Peñaherrera, had predicted a poll “Uncertain” because of the large number of undecided. For analyst Oswaldo Moreno, the null vote could legitimize “Future events” affecting ” the governance “.
Many challenges to face
Mr. Lasso said he was ready to give his “Life to the people”, promising “A free and democratic Ecuador”. A follower of free trade, he aims for a “Zero deficit so as not to aggravate the debt” and promised to create two million jobs.
The GDP of this dollarized country of 17.4 million people contracted 7.8% in 2020 and the global debt reached 63.88 billion dollars (63% of GDP).
Ecuador is also very affected by the pandemic, with some 340,000 cases of Covid-19, including more than 17,000 deaths.
