Ecuador’s Confederation of Peoples of the Kichwa Nationality (Ecuarunari) called for a national strike to protest alleged electoral fraud committed against the presidential candidate Yaku Perez in the February 7 elections.
The announcement was made while the National Electoral Council (CNE) was evaluating a technical report to decide whether or not to accept the “inconsistencies” in over 20,000 electoral records presented by Perez, who ran for the Movement of Plurinational Unity Pachakutik (MUPP).
Ecuarunari leader Gustavo Tenesaca claimed that there were arguments “to request the nullity and call for new elections” while advocating for Quito mobilizations.
On Saturday, the CNE began the recount of 31 electoral acts in nine provinces. The vote recount has been performed in Cotopaxi, Azuay, Santo Domingo, Guayas, Los Rios and Cañar localities so far.
While Ecuador's indigenous movement was denouncing the coup in Bolivia and condemning the massacres before international human rights organizations, Yaku Pérez was "filled with hope" by the coup which he said signaled the "fall" of leftist "authoritarian" governments. https://t.co/WD4lyebYuv
— Camila (@PrensaCamila) February 27, 2021
Perez’s followers remained outside the CNE headquarters, where some confrontations with the Police occurred on Friday.
On Feb. 7, Ecuadorians voted in the first round of the presidential elections in which the progressive Union for Hope (UNES) candidate Andres Arauz took the lead.
Arauz will have to face in a second-round with the other candidate most voted, a place disputed between the conservative Guillermo Lasso from the CREO alliance and Perez.
#Ecuador | The National Electoral Council (CNE) has rejected the request for a partial vote recount by candidate Yaku Perez in the first round of Ecuador's presidential elections. pic.twitter.com/vlCNGxwW0M
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) February 19, 2021