The Associated Press

Mon, Sep 29, 2008 (9:57 a.m.)

Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa urged his opponents Monday to join his efforts to build a more just society, saying the overwhelming victory of his constitutional referendum gives him a broad mandate.

"Thank God my triumph was so convincing and so crushing, beyond all our expectations," he told international reporters at a breakfast. "Let's hope they reflect and let the country advance peacefully."

With 80 percent of ballots counted, 64 percent of Ecuadorean voters approved the measure, according to official results. Correa got more than the 50 percent plus one he needed in all but two of Ecuador's 24 provinces.

The 20th constitution in the history of this chronically unstable nation considerably broadens Correa's powers and will let him run for two more consecutive terms, consolidating what he calls a citizen's revolution.

Although nowhere near as radical as similar projects in Venezuela and Bolivia, critics complain it gives Correa far too much control over the economy as well as the judicial and legislative branches. Large landholders fear it will spur efforts to seize their properties, though Correa has made no such threat. And social conservatives say it could lead to legalized abortion, an allegation Correa denies.

It also gives the government greater fiscal control over local and provincial authorities, eroding their power over public works projects and bureaucracies.

A center of opposition is the port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest with some 2.3 million people. Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nebot noted Monday that only 45 percent of voters in Guayaquil's province approved the new constitution, and called on Correa to "respect our local victory, which says that our model works so don't touch it."

Guayaquil currently gets a share of the revenues paid by its taxpayers, and wants to keep it that way. Nebot has not threatened, however, to seek the kind of political autonomy that some regional leaders are pushing for in Bolivia, where President Evo Morales is struggling to get a new constitution passed.

Correa, 45, said Monday that his government must now determine the cost of new programs the constitution enshrines, including pensions for stay-at-home mothers and informal sector workers, and free education for all through college.

Such measures build on already-popular Correa programs that provide low-interest micro-loans and building material for first-time homeowners.

Ecuador gets substantial oil income as Latin America's fifth-largest oil producer, but Correa on Monday repeated his threat to reduce payments on Ecuador's US$10 billion foreign debt if domestic priorities are more pressing.

Correa seeks a social safety net for the 38 percent of Ecuadoreans who live below the poverty line. He also has said the document will help to eradicate a political class that made Ecuador one of Latin America's most corrupt countries.

After Sunday's victory, he called on his countrymen to help "achieve a brave, sovereign and dignified homeland _ equitable, just and without misery."

Presidential and congressional elections are expected as early as February, and a Correa presidency is now possible through 2017. But he was coy Monday when asked if he would run, saying it would be up to his Alianza Pais movement.

"I'm only here to serve my homeland. I'm not interested in power." he told the foreign correspondents.

Correa is expected to swiftly overhaul the judiciary, the Central Bank and other key institutions, giving the U.S.- and European-trained economist greater liberty to fashion what he calls a "new political model." Soaring oil prices have helped him build it.

A third of the national budget comes from oil revenues, which are expected to amount to US$4.8 billion this year.

Some in Correa's badly splintered and debilitated opposition contend he's creating a Venezuela-style autocracy.

But while Correa followed Hugo Chavez's lead by pushing for a new constitution to help him consolidate power, he has kept the Venezuelan president at arm's length.

Unlike Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, Correa has not moved to nationalize telecommunications and electrical utility companies or pledged to establish closer relations with Russia.

And while Correa opted not to renew an airport lease that allows U.S. anti-narcotics missions to fly from Ecuadorean territory, U.S. diplomats praise Ecuador's drug-fighting cooperation.