Andrea Gonzalez to contest the August 20 polls rather than Fernando Villavicencio, his celebration introduced.
The working mate of Ecuador’s assassinated presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, has been named to face in his place within the August 20 elections, in accordance with their celebration.
The centrist Construye celebration stated in a press release on Saturday that Andrea Gonzalez will change the 59-year-old chief, who was shot lifeless final week after leaving a marketing campaign occasion within the capital, Quito.
Gonzalez, a 36-year-old environmental activist who has not beforehand held public workplace, was chosen by Villavicencio to be his working mate within the snap election referred to as by outgoing President Guillermo Lasso.
Whereas ballots have already been printed, by legislation votes for Villvicencio will mechanically switch to the celebration candidate.
“The title of the vice presidential candidate might be introduced within the subsequent hours and might be chosen among the many most trusted of those that have shared the struggles of comrade Fernando Villavicencio,” the celebration added.
Six suspects – all Colombian nationals whom police accuse of hyperlinks to felony teams – have been charged with the homicide of Villavicencio, an ex-lawmaker and journalist with a observe document of exposing corruption.
All of the suspects stay in custody after a decide on Thursday ordered they continue to be behind bars because the felony investigation continues.
Authorities on Saturday transferred the chief of a robust gang accused of threatening Villavicencio earlier than he was assassinated to a maximum-security jail.
Veronica Sarauz, Villavicencio’s widow, instructed reporters on Saturday she holds the state instantly chargeable for her husband’s homicide.
“The federal government nonetheless has to supply numerous solutions for every part that occurred,” she stated, after arriving on the information convention with an armed police escort and sporting a bulletproof vest and helmet.
Sarauz criticised the celebration’s determination to select Gonzalez because the substitute. She described the celebration’s determination to faucet Gonzalez as “arbitrary”.
The South American nation of some 18 million has seen a rising tide of violence in recent times, together with a pointy enhance within the homicide fee.
Villavicencio had been polling across the center of the pack in a subject of eight candidates previous to his assassination.
Past safety, employment and migration have emerged as key marketing campaign points.
