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Ecuador leader claims poll win | Ecuador leader claims poll win |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has claimed victory in elections for a new constituent assembly. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | Mr Correa's political opponents accuse him of wanting to turn the South American country into a socialist state. |
'Confusion' | |
The 44-year-old president's Alianza Pais party hopes to win more than two-thirds of the vote necessary to implement the changes he has promised. | |
We accept this triumph with great humility and total responsibility. We know we cannot fail Ecuador President Rafael Correa | |
Mr Correa, a former economy minister who took office in January, said he had won a strong mandate. | |
"We accept this triumph with great humility and total responsibility," he said. "We know we cannot fail." | |
The impoverished Andean nation has thrown out three previous presidents in the last 10 years, and successive governments have been roundly criticised. | |
Opposition candidate Gilmar Gutierrez, brother of the ousted President Lucio Gutierrez, said his party would wait for the official results. | |
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. |