Noboa celebrates referendum victory despite the defeat of two of his proposals

President Daniel Noboa thanked voters on Tuesday for supporting his anti-crime and anti-corruption measures in Sunday’s referendum. “The people have spoken and our next step is to work even harder,” he said.

President Daniel Noboa celebrates referendum results Sunday night with Minister of Government Mónica Palencia.

He took the occasion to also praise investigators and police for the capture of Los Lobos gang boss Fabricio Colón Pico who was taken into custody Monday morning. “We are arresting our most wanted criminals and seeing the results of the plan to restore peace to all Ecuadorians, but this only reminds us of how much more work remains to be done.”

Noboa dismissed suggestions that the defeat of two referendum questions was a blow to his government. “I was taught that a 9 to 2 score is pretty good,” he said. “In football, it would be considered a rout.”

The questions that failed would have eased hiring rules for businesses and mandated that some business disputes be resolved through international arbitration.

Most political analysts agreed that the referendum was a win for the president. “Everyone, including Noboa, knew those two questions would lose almost from the time they were proposed, so this was no surprise,” said Quito radio commentator and former Correista National Assemblyman Carlos Sanchez. “He had presented the election as a fight against the drug gangs and using the military to help police and in this he was successful,” Sanchez said, adding, “I was glad to see voters stand up to him on the labor and international business questions. The message was clear that they will not follow him blindly on every issue.”

Constitutional law professor Christian Masapanta also said the referendum was a victory for Noboa. “Remember that indigenous groups, the labor movement and many Correistas pushed for a total ‘no’ vote and wanted the election to be a referendum on his presidency as it was for [former president Guillermo] Lasso,” he said. “In this respect, this was a defeat for the opposition. They shouted victory based on two questions, but this was a case of putting a good face on a bad situation.”

Sanchez said the margin of passage on the nine successful questions was impressive. “It was a landslide in the president’s favor and we can’t forget that this happened while many people are blaming him for the electricity crisis.”