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| - The Organization of American States expressed "concern" Monday over Ecuador's election, and urged the country's top electoral body to "provide guarantees of certainty and transparency" to the political parties involved. It comes after Ecuador's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced Friday it would conduct a partial recount of the February 7 presidential vote, which finished with the candidates for second place tied neck-and-neck. One, environmental lawyer Yaku Perez, has since alleged wrongdoing. "The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Ecuador expresses its concern about the lack of definition by the electoral authority and is paying close attention to the latest developments in the electoral process," the OAS said in a statement on Twitter. The recount was requested by Perez and his rival, right-wing ex-banker Guillermo Lasso, after the former received 19.38 percent of the vote, with Lasso on 19.74 percent. The result means it is unclear who will face leftist economist Andres Arauz in a runoff election -- the 36-year-old protege of former socialist president Rafael Correa got 32.7 percent, which is not enough to win outright. Pre-election polls had placed Lasso comfortably in second place, but Perez performed far better than expected: he initially appeared in second place as votes were first being counted, only to fall to third behind Lasso. Since the first round of presidential and legislative elections, indigenous and leftist groups have held several peaceful rallies supporting Perez, who is indigenous, in front of the electoral authority headquarters in capital city Quito and Guayaquil, a large port city in the southwest. On Monday, two indigenous groups called for a march on Quito to denounce alleged electoral fraud against their candidate. In its statement, the OAS called for "public demonstrations to be carried out in a peaceful manner and for political parties to settle their differences via institutional channels." Incumbent President Lenin Moreno's term in office ends on May 24. The OAS also urged the CNE to "guarantee compliance with the electoral calendar" for the April run-off vote. dsl/dga/to/reb
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