Daniel Noboa Reelected Ecuador's Next President
Ecuador reelects President Daniel Noboa, a young conservative with a tough crimefighting image. Opponent Luisa Gonzalez alleges fraud and demands a recount.
Ecuadorian voters reelected their President Daniel Noboa Azin, a conservative young millionaire with a divisive no-holds-barred crimefighting record, on Sunday.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Noboa maintained a consistent and surprisingly wide 12-point lead over his leftist opponent, Luisa Gonzalez, throughout the vote count. But Gonzalez vowed to seek a recount over what she described as “grotesque” electoral fraud.
In the figures that were reported, Ecuador’s National Electoral Council Noboa has received 55.8% of the vote with more than 90% of ballots counted, while leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzalez earned 44.1%, a difference of more than one million votes.
As per AP, Diana Atamaint, the country’s top electoral authority, said those results showed an “irreversible trend” in favour of Noboa.
"We inform the Ecuadorean people that with more than 90% of the ballot boxes processed nationally there is an irreversible trend in the second round of voting," Atamaint said as per Reuters.
"The winning duo is Daniel Noboa Azin and Vice President-elect Maria Jose Pinto."
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Noboa's victory gives him a full four-year term to carry out the promises he first made during the 2023 snap election when he unexpectedly won a 16-month presidency despite having little political experience.
Noboa, who is an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, is expected to continue applying his no-holds-barred crimefighting strategies, which was a part of what appealed to voters, but have tested the limits of laws and norms of governing.
Meanwhile, Noboa, speaking from the coastal town of Olon, expressed confidence in his win and extended his gratitude to supporters, stating there was no doubt about his victory.
Gonzalez Expresses Disbelief
As per Reuters, Gonzalez expressed disbelief at the results to chanting supporters in Ecuador’s capital Quito. In her statement, she said, "I refuse to believe that a people would prefer lies instead of truth, violence instead of peace and unity," Gonzalez said. "We are going to demand a recount and for them to open ballot boxes."
Her defeat marks the third consecutive time that the party of Rafael Correa, her mentor and the country’s most influential president this century, failed to return to the presidency. Correa said on social media that the results were "impossible".
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