Ecuador Update: Indigenous Candidate Iza Calls for Respect for Popular Decision
Presidential Candidate Leonidas Iza, Feb. 9, 2025. X/ @ecuainm_oficial
February 9, 2025 Hour: 9:29 am
The candidates with the greatest chances of winning the democratic contest are Luisa Gonzalez and Daniel Noboa.
On Sunday, over 13.7 million Ecuadorians will head to the polls to elect 151 legislators for the National Assembly, 5 representatives for the Andean Parliament, and the president and vice president of the Republic for the 2025-2029 term.
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Although 16 politicians are vying for the presidency, the two candidates with the best chances of winning or advancing to a second round are Luisa Gonzalez, a left-wing lawyer representing the Citizen Revolution (RC) party, and incumbent President Daniel Noboa, a right-wing businessman seeking re-election.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that 4,339 polling stations set up across the country’s 24 provinces will open at 7:00 a.m. and remain operational until 5:00 p.m. The main events of this democratic process are presented below as they occur.
12:05: The Indigenous Candidate Says That Democracy is More Than Going to the Polls. Leonidas Iza, the presidential candidate for the Pachakituk party who is also the leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), recalled that democracy is not only about going to vote at the polls every so often.
“For us, democracy is important. But democracy is not limited only to the electoral process but implies the right to participation and permanent decision,” he said upon arriving to cast his vote at a polling station in the province of Cotopaxi.
Iza, who participated in the 2019 protests against Lenin Moreno (2017-2021) and led the 2022 protests against Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023), asked the population to vote “with conscience” and the current authorities to respect the people’s decision.
11:00: Electoral Authority Confirms Installation of All Polling Stations. In the first news briefing of the day, Diana Atamaint, President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), announced that 40,791 polling stations have been set up and are operational.
“Every vote will be counted and respected. Democracy is strengthened with each citizen,” Atamaint vowed, adding that 8% of eligible voters have participated in the electoral process so far.
CNE Vice President Enrique Pita stated that 133,588 party delegates and 1,682 national and international electoral observers are monitoring polling centers, all of which are secured by 57,291 police officers and 48,825 military personnel. Abroad, councilor Jose Cabrera Zurita reported that voting has already concluded at Ecuadorian consulates in Tokyo, Seoul, and Sydney.
07:20: President Daniel Noboa Votes in the Province of Santa Elena. Accompanied by his wife and son, the businessman seeking re-election as president of the republic cast his vote at a polling station located in Olon in the province of Santa Elena. According to official information, he will later head to the capital city of Quito to await the results of the vote in the afternoon.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – Pichincha Comunicaciones
