QUITO (HRNW) – Ecuadoreans’ rejection in a referendum of proposals including allowing extradition for organized crime were not a “dramatic” setback for the administration of President Guillermo Lasso, Government Minister Francisco Jimenez said on Tuesday.
A majority voted “no” to all eight questions posed by the president in Sunday’s referendum, with 97% of votes counted, according to official data from the electoral court.
Attempts to give the attorney general’s office more autonomy to choose prosecutors and reduce the number of legislators in the 137-seat assembly were among the proposals rejected.
Some voters said they did not think the proposals would do enough to tackle crime in Ecuador, while others framed their response as a more general rejection of Lasso.
The results have came at a difficult time for Lasso, who is struggling with worries about law and order including anti-mining protests by indigenous groups that have hurt the economy, and widespread gang violence in prisons.