Ecuador votes to limit presidential terms

Ecuador’s president Lenín Moreno has triumphed in a nationwide referendum that served former president Rafael Correa a blow by reinstating a limit to presidential terms. 

The “yes” campaign championed by Mr Moreno resulted in wide public endorsement of all seven proposals featured in the ballot on February 4, which saw a turnout of almost 75% of the 13 million total voters. The accepted proposals included limiting presidential terms to only one re-election, forbidding anybody convicted for corruption to assume a public role, banning metal mining altogether, and rolling back a disputed law against property speculation.

The vote confirmed Mr Moreno’s widespread popular support and settled the ongoing feud between him and Mr Correa, whose legacy and possible bid for re-election in 2021 risked undermining the president’s reform agenda.

“The result of the vote has been clear,” Mr Moreno said on his Twitter account on February 5. “We have to build a new Ecuador.”

Mr Correa, however, stood by his claims that the referendum violated the constitution. Its outcome turns the page on the “Citizens’ revolution” he spearheaded during his 10 years as head of the country until 2017, and paves the way for Mr Moreno to pursue the combination of market and social reforms he promised.