QUITO, Sept 13, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ecuadorans will head to the polls in
presidential and legislative elections on February 9, the National Electoral
Council (CNE) said on Thursday, in a vote that will see incumbent leader
Daniel Noboa seek reelection.

Noboa was elected in 2023 to only 18 months in office to complete the term of
predecessor Guillermo Lasso, who called a snap vote to avoid possible
impeachment for alleged embezzlement.

"The voting day for this electoral process will take place on Sunday,
February 9, 2025," the CNE said in a national broadcast.

It said the positions to be elected were "President and Vice President of the
Republic of Ecuador, five representatives to the Andean Parliament, and 151
National Assembly representatives".

Ecuador's some 13.7 million voters (including more than 456,000 abroad) will
elect a larger number of National Assembly representatives in the poll, their
number bumped to 151 from 137, due to the "population increase," according to
the CNE.

Seventeen candidates have announced their intention to run for president,
including the leader of the country's largest Indigenous organization,
Leonidas Iza, and the president of the National Assembly, Henry Kronfle.

In 2023, Noboa won a surprise victory with more than 52 percent of the votes
against socialist Luisa Gonzalez, who is also due to stand again.

Born in the United States as the heir to a banana empire, Noboa defines
himself as a center-leftist but has the backing of right-wing political
parties and embraces neoliberal economic thinking.

Once considered a bastion of peace in Latin America, Ecuador has been plunged
into crisis by the rapid spread of transnational cartels that use its ports
to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.

The 2023 election was held under a state of emergency following the
assassination of presidential hopeful Fernando Villavicencio, a journalist
turned anti-corruption candidate.