Ecuador: Constituent Assembly aproves draft constitution

Caracas, Venezuela, 25 July, 2008. On Thursday, the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly issed a 444 article draft constitution that will be send for approval by a National Referendum on 28 September 2008. Today at Montecristi, the draft constitution is formally sent to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Constituent Assambly comes to an end.

The new draft constitution counted with the backing of 99 MPs and the opposition of only 33 of them at the Constituent Assembly. Opposition parties have already called for the rejection of the draft at the referendum. They claimed it was a left leaning project. If approved, the draft would turn into the 20th Constitution of Ecuador.

 The conclusion of the drafting encountered numerous obstacles. The President of the Constituent Assembly resigned for the post amid recriminations of slow progress in drafting constitution.

Sources: Telesur, BBC Mundo, El Comercio, El Tiempo, La Hora, El Telegrafo,

Related story: Ecuador: Constituent Assembly president resigns (updated)