Seeking re-election, President Daniel Noboa centres Ecuador’s crime wave

Noboa has continued to weather controversy about the limits of his authority through the end of his latest campaign.

Ecuador’s constitution requires that public officials take a leave of absence to run for re-election.

But Noboa instead signed two executive decrees to avoid transferring power to his vice president, Veronica Abad, with whom he is feuding. Just this week, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador declared both unconstitutional.

After the ruling, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), a powerful Indigenous rights coalition, blasted Noboa for treating the presidency like “a private hacienda”.

“No authoritarian manoeuvre can hide the truth: Noboa's government is riddled with irregularities, abuses and contempt for democracy,” CONAIE wrote in a statement.

“We have never trusted this government,” the acting president of CONAIE, Zenaida Yasacama, told Al Jazeera. “As a woman, his treatment of his vice president has hurt me.”

Zenaida Yasacama, the acting president of CONAIE, an Indigenous organisation, expressed concern about Daniel Noboa's government [Mie Hoejris Dahl/Al Jazeera]

Still, Noboa has campaigned for a second, full term on the basis that he will declare war against “the old politics” of Ecuador.

On advertisements, Noboa stands in a white T-shirt against a purple background, next to slogans for “one single round” — an appeal to voters to make Sunday’s victory so massive, no run-off election is needed.

It’s a pointedly informal look, one designed to appeal to Ecuador’s younger generations. Garcia Nice explained that young voters are particularly fond of Noboa. Some even carry cardboard cut-outs of the leader.

In a country where the average voting age is 28 and 16-year-old teenagers are eligible to vote, that demographic could provide a significant advantage at the polls.

Yet, Noboa’s charisma as a young leader will only take him so far, Hurtado warned.

If he succeeds in winning a full four-year term this year, he will no longer enjoy the benefit of the doubt that comes with being a relative newcomer to politics.

“If he doesn’t resolve the country’s big challenges, his popularity will decline,” Hurtado said.