US embassy cable - 04GUAYAQUIL1223

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUAYAQUIL 001223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (ELECTION TERM UPDATES) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, EC 
SUBJECT:  GUAYAS ELECTIONS AND BEYOND - PSC ROLLS ON 
 
REF: A) GUAYAQUIL 1120 B) QUITO 2771 
 
1.   Summary:  As expected, the Social Christian Party (PSC) 
dominated election results in its heartland of Guayas 
province and the city of Guayaquil.  Jaime Nebot easily won 
reelection as mayor of Guayaquil and the incumbent PSC 
prefect, Nicolas Lapentti, turned back his challenger and 
won a fourth term as prefect.  Jimmy Jairala, the Ecuadorian 
Roldosista Party (PRE) candidate for mayor of Guayaquil, did 
better than expected; Citizens Force candidate Humberto Mata 
did worse.  The PSC made gains elsewhere on the coast, 
mainly at the PRE's expense.  To no surprise, President 
Gutierrez' Patriotic Society Party (PSP) candidates lost 
badly.  End Summary. 
 
Prefect Race 
------------- 
 
2.   The official vote count is still underway but it is 
clear that Nicolas Lapentti was reelected as prefect for his 
fourth term with approximately 40.2% of the votes. 
Lapentti's closest rival, Humberto Mata from Citizens Force, 
won 20.5% of the vote.  Mata received fewer votes than he 
had in the 2000 sectional elections, when he claimed 
electoral fraud.  Gloria Gallardo (PRIAN), was the only 
woman running for prefect of Guayas, and placed third with 
16.8% of the votes.  PRE candidate Adolfo Bucaram, brother 
of disgraced former president Abdala Bucaram, received just 
10% of the vote.  Renan Borbua, PSP prefect candidate and 
cousin of President Gutierrez, received 5.2%. 
 
Mayor of Guayaquil Race 
----------------------- 
 
3.   In Guayaquil, Jaime Nebot (PSC) was reelected for a 
second term as mayor, defeating Jimmy Jairala (PRE) by less 
than had been expected. Some polls had suggested Nebot 
winning by a three to one margin, but the vote count to date 
indicates Jairala received about 29.6% of votes to Nebot's 
56.7%.  Jairala's relatively strong showing may have been 
due in part to his popularity as a journalist and television 
personality.  Fernando Barreno of the PRIAN was third with 
8.2%.  Felipe Mantilla, PSP candidate and former Governor of 
Guayas, received only 1.7%.  In total, the PSC won 16 out of 
28 mayoral races in Guayas, all of them with more than 35% 
of the vote.  The PRIAN and PRE won 4 mayoral contests each, 
the Popular Democracy Party (DP) won one, one was suspended 
and alliances won the final two races. 
 
PSC Gains Elsewhere in Coastal Region 
------------------------------------ 
 
4.   The PSC also gained in several other provinces within 
the Guayaquil Consular district.  The PSC consolidated its 
power in the provinces of Manabi and Zamora Chinchipe while 
winning the mayoral races in the important cities of 
Babahoyo and Quevedo (in Los Rios province); San Cristobal 
and Isabela (Galapagos); and in Azogues (Caar).  The PRE 
won the prefect and mayor races in Loja but suffered a 
bruising defeat at the hands of the PSC in the race for 
mayor of Machala (El Oro province) and in the race for 
prefect of Manabi, both once considered PRE strongholds. 
The Democratic Left (ID) won the prefect and mayoral races 
in Azuay.  The alliance candidate for the PSP and DP won the 
Galapagos prefect race and the Santa Cruz mayoral race. 
 
Disturbances Marr Voting Day 
---------------------------- 
 
5.   Press reported and police confirmed disturbances in 
five municipalities of Guayas on election day.  In El 
Empalme, disturbances caused the temporary suspension of 
voting.  In Duran, unidentified political party members 
tried to burn a school down where elections had taken place 
as a form of protest.  From that municipality, various PRE 
members drove to the Electoral Tribunal of Guayas (TEG) to 
report fraud against their candidate.  In Isidrio Ayora, 
PRIAN members also took semi-burned electoral ballots to 
Electoral Tribunal of Guayas (TEG) to report fraud.  Press 
also reported confrontations between the police and PRIAN 
members there.  In Samborondon, the president of a voting 
center was reportedly shot as the voting center was closing 
down.  Finally, the elections were suspended and will be re- 
run in the municipality of Simon Bolivar due to violence 
over possible electoral fraud. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (ELECTION TERMS UPDATED) 
6.   Despite these isolated disturbances, which affected 
only a minor part of the electorate in Guayas, the elections 
elsewhere were generally peaceful and ran smoothly in most 
voting centers.  Guayaquil Consulate officials visited 30 
voting centers as OEA observers in Guayaquil and encountered 
no irregularities or violence. 
 
7.  The PSC consolidated and boosted its dominance in Guayas 
province and made some inroads elsewhere in the coastal 
region of Ecuador, at the cost of the PRE.  While some fault 
the PSC aging leadership or the PSC's overemphasis on public 
works rather than social welfare, many "costenos" clearly 
retain faith in the party and are attracted to decisive 
leadership of party strongman Leon Febres-Cordero and the 
can-do attitude of local leaders Nebot and Lapentti. 
Meanwhile, the PRE has slowly been losing ground in the 
absence of Abdala Bucaram and the glaring contrast between 
the results of PSC versus PSC rule.  While the fate of 
President Gutierrez' PSP is still unclear at the national 
level, it clearly enjoys little support in this part of 
Ecuador. 
 
HERBERT