Ecuadorians will choose a new president Sunday, less than two weeks after the South American country was shaken by the assassination of one of the candidates -- a crime that laid bare people's fears over unprecedented violence in their once-calm nation.
The winner faces a universal demand for safety, but how the incoming administration will fund crime-fighting promises remains to be seen. Much of the country's increasingly polarized society yearns for the prosperity seen under the presidency of Rafael Correa, now a fugitive from Ecuadorian justice, but few readily acknowledge it left the country with a huge fiscal deficit and billions in debt.
Some voters could choose to just pay a fine of roughly US$45 rather than risking a trip to the polls. In Guayaquil, the port city that has been the epicentre of violence, fair vendor Dalia Chang said residents' fears for their safety kept people at home during a long holiday weekend through Sunday. Chang, 59, said she expected more sales, but her booth in a popular entertainment district was practically empty.
While organized crime groups appear to have endless cash to pay for guns, bribes and more, the government is on a tight budget. The election winner will only govern 18 months but will inherit a fiscal mess in part due to declining revenues from tax collection and oil exports -- on which the country largely depends.
Sunday's snap election was called after President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative former banker, dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached over allegations that he failed to intervene to end a faulty contract between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company.
To win outright, a candidate needs 50 per cent of the vote or at least 40 per cent with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent. If needed, a runoff election would take place Oct. 15.
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