Ecuador's ex-president Correa returns to campaign against term limits

QUITO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's ex-president Rafael Correa arrived here Friday to campaign in favor of preserving a Constitutional amendment that does away with term limits.

Correa, who went to live in Belgium with his family after serving two terms, proposed lifting term restrictions while president, an initiative congress then passed.

That amendment is in danger of being repealed in an upcoming Feb. 4 referendum vote called by his successor, Lenin Moreno, a fellow member of the progressive PAIS Alliance who strayed from the party line shortly after taking office in May.

Moreno has defended the poll as a means "to guarantee the principle of alternance" between different political currents.

"From my perspective, and I think from an ethical one, (indefinite reelection) is a political aberration," Moreno has said.

But those close to Correa feel the amendment aims to sideline the ex-president from running again in 2021.

Correa has slammed the referendum as unconstitutional, alleging Moreno issued presidential decrees in November to hold the poll without first waiting for the Constitutional Court to weigh in on the matter.

Some 13 million registered voters will be able to vote on seven initiatives, the most controversial being the amendment to scrap unlimited reelection, and making public servants convicted of corruption ineligible from running for elected office. Enditem