Ecuador's Acosta steps down

Alberto Acosta confirmed his resignation as chair of Ecuador's constitutional assembly today, fueling the idea that the whole project is somehow doomed. Acosta stepped down because he felt that the set deadline for the constitution was too soon to allow for a proper draft that would represent "all Ecuadoreans."

His resignation could send the assembly into a crisis, which is precisely what the hard liners in the opposition - such as Guayaquil mayor Jaime Nebot - would like. On the other hand, it may help to wrap up the process once and for all and allow Ecuador's politicians to get around to the more menial business of actually running the country.

Acosta - a socialist from an upper-middle class background - was always deemed to be more or less principled and it seemed his honesty somehow vouched for the new constitution. However his insisting that the assembly take its time didn't go down well with hasty President Correa and his PAIS party, who want the constitution approved before the whole idea becomes too unpopular. The more it drags on, the more people get the feeling that they are in for more of the same corrupt parliamentarians that they voted to get rid off in the first place.

With Acosta no longer at the wheel, that feeling will only be enhanced. Suffice to say that when he resigned, Acosta was flanked not by his fellow party members, but by his wife and by León Roldós, the former presidential candidate and a one of only a handful of respected politicians alive in Ecuador.

Photo El Comercio