A state of emergency has been imposed in Ecuador for 60 days after the assassination on Wednesday of a candidate in the presidential election, which kept the date of August 20, authorities said.
• Also read: Presidential candidate shot dead after meeting in Ecuador
“The armed forces are currently mobilized throughout the national territory to ensure the security of citizens, the tranquility of the country and free and democratic elections on August 20,” said Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso in a speech broadcast on YouTube.
The date for the early parliamentary elections in Ecuador has now been set for August 20, added the head of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint.
“The date of the elections scheduled for August 20 remains unchanged, in accordance with the statutory constitutional mandate,” Ms. Atamaint said in the joint statement with President Lasso.
Centrist candidate Fernando Villavicencio, second in voting intentions for the presidential election, the first round of which is scheduled for August 20, was shot dead at the end of an election rally in Quito on Wednesday night.
The 59-year-old journalist was killed while leaving a sports hall in the north of the capital after a campaign rally.
Prosecutors reported “nine wounded, including a rally candidate and two police officers,” in addition to the death of one of the attackers, who was shot dead by security forces.