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Ecuador headed for runoff in tense presidential vote

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa (L) hugs Lenin Moreno, the presidential candidate of the governing Alianza PAIS party, February 19, 2017

Moreno had hoped to clinch victory outright Sunday in the first round of an election that could instead see the South American oil exporter shift to the right.

But the electoral authorities said Moreno fell short of the necessary lead with nearly all ballots counted on Wednesday.

He will face a runoff on April 2 against his conservative rival Guillermo Lasso.

"We were just half a point away from winning outright in the first round," Correa told reporters.

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Opinion polls and various analysts suggest Moreno faces a tough challenge in the second round since conservative voters are likely to rally behind Lasso.

The defeated third-placed candidate, conservative Cynthia Viteri, called on her supporters to vote for Lasso in the runoff.

"Any party could beat the governing one in the second round, because there is major resistance to, and rejection of, the government," said political scientist Paolo Moncagatta of Quito's San Francisco University before Sunday's vote.

Correa however remained defiant that his side could win through to extend leftist rule after his decade in power.

"Everything indicates that we will win in the second round," he said.

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Fraud claims denied

With 98.58 percent of votes counted, the electoral authority said Moreno was still short of the 40 percent threshold to avoid a runoff, despite having an 11-point lead.

The trend towards a runoff therefore "cannot be reversed," said the president of the National Electoral Council, Juan Pablo Pozo.

Moreno had 39.3 percent of the vote against 28.2 percent for ex-banker Lasso.

Lasso alleged attempted fraud in the vote count, which the council denied.

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His supporters rallied in protest at the delay in publishing full results outside the council's headquarters, where scuffles broke out with police on Monday.

Pozo said the council would not officially confirm the runoff until a definitive result is finalized in the coming days.

Lasso has vowed to cut spending and taxes, shifting away from the current government's tax-and-spend polices.

He has also said he will move to end WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's asylum in Ecuador's London embassy.

Correa on Wednesday denounced that proposal as a breach of Assange's rights.

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The election is a test of the legacy of Correa, an outspoken critic of the United States.

A victory for Lasso would mean a fresh setback for the left in Latin America, after similar swings to the right in Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

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