QUITO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — Five days after Daniel Noboa took over Ecuador’s presidency for a short 18-month term, analysts agreed Tuesday that the president must implement a pragmatic work plan that inspires confidence and concrete results in the short term allows for tenure, in addition to achieving consensus to ensure political stability.
Noboa, a 35-year-old businessman with little political experience, will finish the unfinished mandate of his predecessor Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the National Assembly (unicameral Congress) last May and allowed early elections amid a political crisis.
Political analyst Jacobo García explained in an interview with Xinhua that Noboa’s presidency raises “high expectations for change” due to the renewal it represents in the political scene and the story that youth is strength.
However, the adviser also said that Noboa is starting his government with a young cabinet of ministers without political experience or a political project, which could take its toll.
García considered that the “consensus” that takes the country in a new direction and allows him to reconfirm the presidency in a year and a half is essential when considering re-election in 2025.
According to opinion polls, Ecuadorians consider insecurity, unemployment, poverty and corruption to be the South American country’s main problems.
Added to this is the weakened Ecuadorian economy, which is dependent on oil, and the effects of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which initially threatens to burden the economy with around $4 billion.
The Ecuadorian president, a former congressman who defines himself as a center-left pragmatist, promised jobs and a hard line against insecurity, as well as a departure from the old traditional politics and confrontation.
Noboa began his term with an approval rating of over 60 percent and approval in the National Assembly.
The agreement was reached between the ruling National Democratic Action alliance (14 seats) and the Citizen Revolution parties led by former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017) with the largest bench (52 seats) and the conservative Social Christian Party (18 seats ) achieved.
This understanding made possible the election of representatives within the legislature, which for García is not enough because “we have to see how Noboa maintains this majority over time” to facilitate the ability to govern and implement his government plan.
For his part, political management expert Juan Rivadeneira agreed that Noboa must have a clear work plan.
Rivadeneira said they are waiting to see what first “bold” decisions the Ecuadorian president makes “to resolve old problems with a young cabinet.”
He recalled that Noboa stated at his inauguration that the country feels a sense of urgency to which young people must respond boldly, which is why expectations of the new government are “very high”.
“There are important signs that there is a generational change (…), but based on the strength of the youth it must result in action, only then will we be clear about the correctness of this statement and what quality it is Change has “in practice,” he said.
The analyst noted that “the country has underlying problems” and that reality will prevail, which “will make it clear to the president that the size of the mountain is much higher than he may have believed.”
In this sense, he pointed to the lack of liquidity in the Ecuadorian dollar economy and considered it essential that the government provide “collateral” to achieve the emerging external financing that the country needs.
President Noboa himself admitted on Monday that “the situation is very difficult” and that Ecuador “is in its worst moment,” saying he had welcomed an impoverished country for which he asked for the support of Ecuadorians, especially the most privileged , asked.
As a first measure, the Ecuadorian president urgently sent to Congress a tax reform initiative that would create jobs to address the crisis.
Ecuador has arrears to public and private institutions of $2,872 million, as well as a tax fund with only $184 million in the individual account of the Ministry of Finance.
According to the government, a budget deficit of $5 billion and internal and external debt of $63 billion are also forecast at the end of 2023.
Sovereign risk is also close to 2,000 basis points, meaning Ecuador is excluded from access to normal debt markets and makes it difficult to attract investment. End