Ecuador and Peru prepare for elections marked by pandemic and disenchantment

Ecuador Y Peru They are preparing to elect a president this Sunday, in an election marked by the disenchantment of the population and the health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bolivia, in turn, will go to a second round to elect governors and mayors, and the ruling Movement for Socialism tries not to lose districts to an opposition that has been growing in the last month.

In Ecuador, a country that supports a new and deep economic crisis caused by the emergence of covid-19, a ballot will take place that polarizes people between correistas and anticorreistas.

Will be measured Andres Arauz, from Unión por la Esperanza, supported by former president Rafael Correa, and the center-right Guillermo Lasso, of the Creando Oportunidades movement, which is running for the presidency for the third time.

With a political campaign limited by coronavirus restrictions, candidates have hooked on social media to try to win over the less ideological voter, whose disenchantment has been deepened by the current crisis.

Andrés Arauz, winner of the first round in Ecuador, is ahead of former banker Guillermo Lasso. Photo: REUTERS

“The mood of the Ecuadorian is fed up, disappointed,” and that is why, amid so much uncertainty, he is looking for a candidacy that provides solutions to his problems, that shows him leadership, confidence, explains political consultant Wendy Reyes to the agency EFE, and ensures that the vote will not be “ideological”, but “emotional and conjunctural.”

Arauz, who has a slight advantage according to the polls, is triumphant. “We are on the verge of victory,” he assured this Thursday.

However, pollsters point out that banker Lasso has managed to overcome the disadvantage of 13 points with which he started after the first round, in which Arauz won 32.72% of the votes compared to 19.74% for the center-right candidate.

There’s a high number of undecided that in the first round they voted for Yaku Pérez (19.39%) and Xavier Hervás (15.68%), both from the left but also anti-Corrreans.

No favorites in Peru

Peruvians have seen four presidents pass since 2018 and this Sunday they elect a new president in the middle of record numbers of infections and deaths by coronavirus, after an atypical campaign with 18 candidates and no favorites.

The candidates closed their campaigns on Thursday in search of the last votes with colorful and boisterous rallies with hundreds of followers crowded together, while the second wave of the pandemic does not give truce with a record almost 13,000 infections and 314 in one day.

No applicant exceeds 10% of the intention to vote, according to the latest polls, and seven have a chance of moving to the second round scheduled for June 6.

The candidate Keiko Fujimori closed her campaign this Thursday in Lima. Photo: REUTERS

The candidate Keiko Fujimori closed her campaign this Thursday in Lima. Photo: REUTERS

The latter are former legislator Yonhy Lescano (center right), anthropologist Verónika Mendoza (left), economist Hernando de Soto (right), Keiko Fujimori (populist right), former soccer player George Forsyth (center right), teacher and unionist Pedro Castillo (radical left) and businessman Rafael López Aliaga (extreme right).

“We have the worst possible scenario for this Sunday: fragmentation and polarization,” said political scientist Carlos Meléndez.

A woman undergoes a coronavirus test in Lima this Friday. Peru set records for sick and dead from coronavirus. Photo: XINHUA

A woman undergoes a coronavirus test in Lima this Friday. Peru set records for sick and dead from coronavirus. Photo: XINHUA

“They are the most fragmented elections in history, we have never seen so many candidates with a choice,” said the head of the Ipsos polling station, Alfredo Torres.

The regionals in Bolivia

Bolivia closes its regional electoral process this Sunday with the second round in four departments, with the need of the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) to overcome the opposition.

Is about La Paz, Chuquisaca, Tarija and Pando, districts in which the candidates did not pass 40% of the votes and did not achieve a difference greater than 10 points over the second.

For this second round it shows true disenchantment of some political groups that have preferred not to support any of the competing candidates, while absenteeism and abstention could be a nuance of some groups of voters as they do not feel represented by the candidates.

Source: EFE and AFP

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source https://pledgetimes.com/ecuador-and-peru-prepare-for-elections-marked-by-pandemic-and-disenchantment/