Socialist Lenin Moreno on Monday celebrated victory in his bid to extend a decade of leftist rule in Ecuador but faced allegations of voting fraud from his conservative rival. Victory for the 64-year-old Moreno, a wheelchair user and political champion of disability rights, would be good news for the Latin American left, which is in decline.
It would also be a relief for Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faced a threat by Moreno's rival to expel him from his refuge in Ecuador's London embassy.
With 96.96 percent of votes counted, the National Electoral Council said Moreno won 51.16 percent against 48.84 percent for conservative banker Guillermo Lasso. "We will continue this process that has changed Ecuadorans' lives, especially for the poorest citizens," the triumphant Moreno told supporters, before singing for the crowd. Lasso vowed to challenge the result, however, saying his campaign had evidence of an attempt to rig the results. "We are going to defend the will of the Ecuadoran people in the face of an attempted fraud that aims to install what would be an illegitimate government," he said.
Some Lasso supporters protested outside election offices in Quito and other cities, demanding transparency in the vote count. The electoral authority was under tight police guard and surrounded by security barriers on Monday morning. The election was closely watched as a barometer of the political climate in Latin America, where more than a decade of leftist dominance has been waning.
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