Ecuador's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on Tuesday that ruling party
candidate Lenin Moreno has officially won Sunday's presidential election
run-off, after a tight contest with his right-wing opponent.
Moreno garnered 51.2 percent of valid votes, while opposition challenger
Guillermo Lasso took 48.8 percent. Jorge Glas, Moreno's running mate, will
continue to serve as vice president, a position he has held since
2013.
Electoral council president Juan Pablo Pozo said the results were "irreversible." Lasso refused to accept the result, claiming to be
the victim of electoral fraud.
Ecuador opposition candidate Lasso rejects vote result
"I cannot accept these results because they do not reflect the will of the people," the former banker told a press conference after Sunday's vote. "There is fraud, blatant fraud, in the counting process."
The opposition candidate on Monday filed a case alleging electoral fraud with the Organization of American States (OAS). Writing on Twitter, Lasso said there was cheating during the second round of the country's presidential election on Sunday.
Ecuador's conservative presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso speaks during a press conference in Quito on April 3, 2017. /CFP Photo
He met on Monday with the head of the OAS' Electoral Mission, former Dominican President Leonel Fernandez in Quito.
Prior to the release of final results, Lasso said there were irregularities in the vote.
"I announced to the OAS that there had been fraud in Ecuador," Lasso wrote on Twitter, adding that "a recount of votes would be the minimum needed to try and restore legitimacy to the process."
"Only the OAS and Leonel Fernandez, as leader of the mission, can save democracy in Ecuador. The OAS cannot allow someone who did not win the elections to take power. We cannot have an illegitimate government," he said.
"The fraud was confirmed when the CNE took four days to give results in the first round but now did it in a few hours," he said.
The OAS has not commented on the results but it published a report on its observation mission, and called on the candidates to resolve issues through institutional means.
(Sources: Agencies)
