Ecuador: Lasso accepts vote outcome and proposes national pact

(ANSA) - QUITO, FEBRUARY 07 - Ecuadorian President GuillermoLasso has accepted the result against him of the administrative elections and the constitutional referendum questions, underlining that "Sunday was an appeal from the people to the government, and we will not evade this responsibility".

    In his first speech last night after the vote, Lasso assured that "when the people speak, it is the duty of the rulers to analyse, understand and accept", saying he is convinced that "in this act of popular expression lie the answers and solutions to the country's main problems ".

    The head of state then said that, regardless of the results of the referendum, the vast majority want a better country with "more security, better education and health, more work, worthy jobs and a reduction in the cost of living".

    "This president accepts the appeal - he concluded - and summons the entire national leadership to build a great national pact" (...) with the conviction that all democratic political forces must contribute their point of view in this process".

    But the opposition of the left-wing Revolución Ciudadana party, led by former president Rafael Correa and winner of the electoral round with the conquest of the mayors of large cities, including Quito and Guayaquil, and the generalized no to the referendum questions posed by Lasso, is calling for general elections immediately, and not at the natural deadline of 2025. (ANSA).