Ecuadorian President Renewed Cabinet After Defeat In Local Elections

Guillermo Lasso

QUITO, Feb 11 (NNN-XINHUA) – Ecuadorian President, Guillermo Lasso, reshuffled his governing team and appointed four new provincial governors, after the ruling party got poor results in the nationwide local elections.

“The decision to renew my team is meant to strengthen actions, plans and projects, to continue building a better country for everyone,” Lasso said, at the presidential palace, describing the changes as “necessary adjustments.”

The reshuffle covered the General Secretariat of the Public Administration of the Presidency, the General Secretariat of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Government, the Secretariat for Management and Development of Peoples and Nationalities, and the Legal Secretariat to the President.

Lasso, who will complete his term in 2025, also appointed new governors for the coastal provinces of Guayas, El Oro and Esmeraldas, as well as, for the central province of Cotopaxi.

The president also accepted the resignation of Aparicio Caicedo, who had served as a government adviser.

The changes were made after the government’s bad results in last Sunday’s constitutional referendum and in provincial and cantonal elections.

The referendum, proposed by the president, contained eight questions that implied changes in the Constitution on security, democracy, justice and environmental protection.

Two days after the elections, Lasso accepted the defeat, saying it was a call to attention to the government.