By Soledad Stoessel
Soledad Stoessel is a Postdoctoral Researcher, Latin American Political Processes at National University of La Plata.
After months of internal dissent and public feuding, Ecuadors president, Lenin Moreno, has been kicked out of his party, the Alianza Pais. He will remain in office, though, and the decision technically justified by Morenos absence from several meetings is being hotly contested within the party.
Moreno served as vice president for six years under Rafael Correa, the popular and charismatic founder of the left-wing Alianza Pais party. In April 2017, he was narrowly elected as the successor to Correas administration, which oversaw the most stable political period of Ecuadors democratic history.
During his presidential campaign against the conservative banker Guillermo Lasso, there were already signs that Moreno was distancing himself from Correa. But at the time, these subtle political shifts seemed necessary to win an extremely tight race on a continent where the once-powerful Left is now ailing.
Now, after executing a shocking breakaway from both the Alianza Pais platform and its supreme leader, Correa, the party is taking action against him. This political turnaround is complicating Ecuadors democratic transition and unraveling the powerful Alianza Pais.
The outstretched hand
Elected by just 2.3 points over Lasso, Moreno knew his administration would face serious challenges among them, governing a highly polarized nation.
To tackle them, candidate Moreno seemed to think that demonstrating autonomy from Correa was a must-do. On the campaign trail, Moreno promised voters national reconciliation, an outstretched hand and continuity with change. Commentators took to calling this stratagem the de-Correafication of Ecuador.
Once in office, that process expanded. The president has now engaged every social and political force that Correas administration had considered the opposition, from the indigenous movement to the financial sector and media conglomerates.
Moreno has also held talks with opposition parties and the Ecuadorian Business Committee, a lobby that had urged the Correa government, which spent heavily on social welfare, to curb public expenditures.
Pivot time
A conversation led to action. Moreno acceded to financial sector demands that private banks be allowed to work with digital cash. In Ecuador, all electronic payments had previously been controlled by the central bank.
He also agreed to introduce reforms to the Communications Act that will protect freedom of expression, acquiescing to calls from media companies that for years did battle with Correa.
Finally, in a nod to austerity, the new president cut civil servant salaries, even though Ecuador ranks among the Latin American nations with the lowest public debt.
Such moves worry the Alianza Paiss base, who fear that the president is subverting Correas self-declared citizens revolution. If so, hes doing it without any clear political or economic vision. Morenos policies are so incongruous that the right-wing Lasso recently offered to lend the president his economic plan.
A public feud
It didnt take long for Moreno and his powerful predecessor to begin publicly clashing.
In June, Correa began to editorialize the Moreno administration in opinion pieces in El Telégrafo newspaper. On Twitter, he implicitly criticized the president as having either a short memory or acting in bad faith.
Moreno responded in kind. In a public meeting in June, he said, Now we can breath freely, slowly we will all shed our sheep-like behaviour. He added that the table is not set he [Correa] could have been a bit more reasonable about leaving things in better condition.
The former president quickly took to the internet to condemn the presidents intractability, saying that Morenos actions would undo El Correismo Correas self-titled political movement bow to corporate interests and kill Ecuadors citizen revolution.
Adding to the chorus was Morenos own vice president, Jorge Glas, a Correa insider. In an Aug. 2 public letter, he protested President Morenos rapprochement with conservative forces.
All this fueled the new presidents move to break away from El Correismo, even though just months ago Ecuadorian voters opted in favour of Correas legacy.
Irreconcilable differences
The resignation, in August, of several senior officials from El Correismos progressive wing showed that the government and the political movement were drifting farther apart.
On Oct. 30, Moreno criticized his predecessors media policies, which some journalists felt a limited freedom of the press. The media cannot be converted into propaganda tools for the government nor, much less still, a party or political movement, he said.
He also promised to move forward with a referendum that seems aimed at overturning some of Correas reforms and boosting Morenos political capital among the conservative base hell now depend upon.
On Oct. 31, the growing schism within Ecuadors Left became an irreparable separation. What happens next to Alianza Pais and this presidents administration is anyones guess.
A version of this article was originally published on Oct. 16, 2017.
This article was originally published in The Conversation.
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