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Ecuador's ruling party candidate leads presidential race

Xinhua, February 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

The ruling party candidate Lenin Moreno is leading the Ecuadorian presidential race but the electoral authority said the final results may be known until a few more days.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) President Juan Pablo Pozo told local press on Monday that the full vote count would take another three days.

Pozo said with 88.4 percent of the votes being counted, the candidate of the ruling PAIS Alliance party Moreno won 39.11 percent of votes, while his nearest rival Guillermo Lasso had 28.30 percent.

However, President Rafael Correa stated that he would wait for the complete results of the election.

"We must count vote by vote to see if this can be decided in a single round. If not, we will prepare for a new popular victory in April," said the president, who will step down on May 24 after 10 years in office.

Pozo also pointed out that inconsistencies had been found in around 5.49 percent of ballots cast, but that "not one vote will be gifted or stolen from anyone."

To win in the first round and avoid a runoff, Ecuadorian law requires a candidate to win an outright majority of more than 50 percent, or get at least 40 percent of the votes with a 10-point advantage over the runner up.

According to the country's electoral authority, if neither of the two leading presidential candidates could ensure a first-round victory, the second round will be held on April 2.

Pozo explained that he would invite the two leading candidates, Moreno and Lasso, to a joint work meeting to discuss the elections and the second round.

Lasso is seeking to end a decade of socialist rule in Ecuador. On Monday, he also reacted on Twitter that "we will have a broad dialogue between all political forces. The people have decided they want a change. There will be a second round."

However, Correa stated that the ruling party had enjoyed "another democratic celebration in a decade which has won much in political stability."

He was jubilant that the PAIS Alliance had secured "an absolute majority in the Assembly...with 75 assembly members" out of 137.

The assembly ballots were held alongside with the presidential election. Endite