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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Ecuador's Choice
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Oct 08, 2008 10:40am |
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| Category | Analysis |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 8, 2008 04:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Late in September, the people of Ecuador marked their ballots for a national referendum. A "Yes" vote meant approval of the country's new constitution. A "No" vote indicated rejection.
The ballots have now been counted, and the outcome is final. Sixty-four percent of the people voted "Yes," 28 percent voted "No," and 8 percent of the ballots were spoiled or blank. Ecuador has a new constitution that allows the creation of a socialist economy.
An article by Joshua Partlow and Stephan Küffner in the Washington Post (9-28-2008) reported this exercise in democracy by stating in the first sentence that "Ecuadorians approved by a wide margin Sunday a new constitution that would expand the powers of President Rafael Correa and open the possibility that he could serve a decade in office." The article neglected to say that President Correa has already decided to end his presidency after only six years in office. It also failed to add that Correa didn't write the constitution himself. A constituent assembly elected by the entire nation wrote it.
The tone of Partlow and Küffner's article suggests that the Post doesn't like socialism in any form, even the mild version legalized by the new constitution. The Post doesn't like Correa and "what he calls '21st-century socialism'."
At this point, Partlow and Küffner become excessively coy, implying that 21st-century socialism is President Correa's recent invention and that it will give him too much power. In fact, the idea of 21st-century socialism has been around for about 12 years. It refers to an economic system that, among other things, places more value on people than on corporate profits. It advocates participatory democracy, election of presidents and legislators, and the use of plebiscites to reach major decisions. |
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