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Ecuador leader claims poll win | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has claimed victory in elections for a new constituent assembly. | |
Official results from the vote are yet to come, but exit polls show Mr Correa's party heading for a strong majority in the new assembly. | |
The president hopes the 130-member body will dissolve the national Congress, which he says is corrupt and inept, and increase the power of poor people. | |
But critics say the reforms will focus more power in the president's hands. | |
Mr Correa's political opponents accuse him of wanting to turn the South American country into a socialist state. | |
Ecuador has thrown out three previous presidents in the last 10 years, and successive governments have been roundly criticised. | Ecuador has thrown out three previous presidents in the last 10 years, and successive governments have been roundly criticised. |
'Change in the times' | |
The president's party hopes to win more than two-thirds of the vote necessary to implement the changes he has promised. | |
Put aside hate and rancour and join in the construction of a new country President Rafael Correa | |
In a speech broadcast at the start of voting, Mr Correa called for a strong mandate. | In a speech broadcast at the start of voting, Mr Correa called for a strong mandate. |
"Put aside hate and rancour and join in the construction of a new country," he said. | "Put aside hate and rancour and join in the construction of a new country," he said. |
"This is the reaffirmation of a change in the times, the light at the end of the tunnel." | "This is the reaffirmation of a change in the times, the light at the end of the tunnel." |
But the BBC's South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says more than 3,200 candidates and a complex voting system has left many voters undecided or simply confused. | But the BBC's South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says more than 3,200 candidates and a complex voting system has left many voters undecided or simply confused. |
Among the candidates are several former beauty queens, a long-haired monk who walks the streets urging voters to take from the rich and a masked crime fighter known as The Punisher who says his face is covered because he is allergic to corruption. | Among the candidates are several former beauty queens, a long-haired monk who walks the streets urging voters to take from the rich and a masked crime fighter known as The Punisher who says his face is covered because he is allergic to corruption. |
There are evangelical Christians and Marxists, offering an array of measures, including a return of the death penalty and nationalising the country's oil industry. | There are evangelical Christians and Marxists, offering an array of measures, including a return of the death penalty and nationalising the country's oil industry. |