Update on the presidential elections in Ecuador this Sunday

Now we go live with our colleague Jorge Gestoso to bring us what we can expect in the second round of the presidential election in Ecuador.

Transcript

00:00As we go live with our colleague Jorge Gestoso to bring us what we can expect in Ecuador's presidential runoff.

00:06Hi, Gestoso. Why can't you share with us at this hour?

00:17Alejandra, the polls open at 7, as expected,

00:21and there are 13,700,000 Ecuadorians that are asked to vote.

00:29The vote here is mandatory.

00:32The two candidates, the presidential candidate, Daniel Novoa, has already voted in the morning.

00:38He did it here in Quito, accompanied with his two girls.

00:44And the presidential candidate, Luisa, did so in her native Manaví province.

00:53Luisa González says before the opening of the polls that there were certain irregularities that she expressed their concern.

01:04Also, it has been very clear the concern of the largest organization of indigenous people, the CONAE,

01:10that the decree of state of emergency in seven provinces of the country, including here, Quito,

01:20under the excuse, quote-unquote excuse, of internal commotion.

01:25It was just a strategy because, according to the CONAE, there's no such thing as especially new and improved violence.

01:35It's just business as usual.

01:37So, therefore, they say that that was done in order, as a strategy, in order to deter the possibility that people, electorals,

01:49people who were going to vote for Luisa González, because in some of those provinces and areas where historical Luisa González is very strong,

01:59that could be affected their assistance to the polls.

02:04The polls are expected to close at five, according to the Electoral National Council.

02:12Around 9 p.m., we could have a trend that could be, according to them, an irreversible trend, so who could be the winner.

02:21But there's a lot of question marks, and there's still a lot of incredibility that this is not a fair and clear election.

02:32The opposition had already said that the National Electoral Council is an arm of the presidential party of Daniel Novoa,

02:43and therefore, they have question marks about the objectivity, about especially the transparency of these elections.

02:52We'll get back to you.

02:58Thank you, Gestoso, for all the first-hand information.

03:00We will keep in contact, for sure, throughout the day.