Highly popular (55%) and after having met his campaign promise to install a Constitutive Assembly to draft a new Constitution, the Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa has completed one year in office. He finished his first year with a 57% approval rate, as informed by the Cedatos institute. Compared to the beginning of his government (January 15, 2007), there was a 16-percentage-point drop, as Correa used to have a 73% approval rate. According to the poll, Correa’s credibility fell 20 percentage points compared to 2007, that is, from 68% (2007) to 48% (2008). On January 15, 2007, Correa took office after beating right-wing millionaire Álvaro Noboa in a run-off, promising to install a Constitutive Assembly and aiming at changing the nation’s political and economic system after one decade of instability.
President Correa has affirmed that his “citizen revolution”, which is his political project, will cause conflicts with conservative groups that oppose his government. To him, the right wing will try to destabilize the nation to impede the intended reforms. Aiming at implementing some proposals, Ecuador’s Finance Minister, Fausto Ortiz, said that the government will cut 34% of the funds previously allocated to foreign debt service in 2008 and re-direct these monies to social investment. This equals to USD 1 billion.
The country will certainly see a stormy year caused by resistance in certain spheres of government, financial system and means of communication. To president Correa, this will occur because the constitution reform will dismantle hegemonic parties.
Representatives from the Ecuadorean government and from the opposition are talking about a possible prolongation of the Constitutive Assembly, given the current disorganization and the fact that only bills sent by the Executive are approved. Whereas some believe that the new Magna Carta will be finished by May 24, others advocate extending the work for eight months. According to the local media, the process lacks a schedule with proposals that would facilitate progress.
