Versión Español
The presidential candidate for the Democratic Left, former Quito mayor Paco Moncayo, announced that he will give his vote to the opposition candidate, Guillermo Lasso.
No hay otra forma de salir de Correa q votando por Lasso. ¡No queda más! Yo no me voy a lavar las manos diciendo "por ninguno".
— Paco Moncayo G. (@PacoMoncayo) March 7, 2017
“The Sandinista-Chavista-Correista movement does not want to give up power, Alianza Pais wants to stay in power forever,” commented the ex-candidate for the National Agreement for Change.
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And he added that their “fraud is not only with regard to counting votes, all of the actions of correismo are fraudulent.”
Moncayo explained that in his opinion Lasso is the “lesser evil” and that he is the necessary candidate in order to restore democracy in Ecuador.
The ex-candidate added: “I will not campaign for Lasso, but I will defend democracy, liberties, the Ecuadorean people, and its armed forces, which have been so battered.”
Guillermo Lasso, for his part, immediately thanked Moncayo for his support.
Gracias @PacoMoncayo por sumarte a la defensa de la democracia, que es de todos quienes queremos un CAMBIO.
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) March 7, 2017
Moncayo’s announcement was made less than twenty-four hours after President Rafael Correa fired the Army Commander, General Luis Castro Ayala, who had warned of security breaches with regard to the chain of custody of voting materials during the first round elections on February 19.
According to Castro Ayala, the army did not maintain the chain of custody of the ballot boxes after the electoral process. The chain of custody should always include the presence of the armed forces as a guarantee to safeguard the will of the people.
Former Guayas governor Guillermo Lasso and former Vice President Lenin Moreno are locked in a hotly contested second round election after neither candidate won in the first round election. Ecuadorians will head to the polls on April 2, to choose between the candidates of Movimiento CREO, and Alianza Pais, respectively.
Moncayo’s announcement is of particular significance because he originally pledged that he would support neither candidate. The support of the Democratic Left standard-bearer may change the dynamics of the race, and is a positive sign for Lasso, who most analysts say has a slight edge heading into next month’s election.
Moreno leads in a poll conducted by the Centro de Investigacion Social, while Lasso leads in a poll by the Cedatos firm.
Sources: La Republica, El Diario, El Universo
