ECUADOR’S PRESIDENT Rafael Correa didn’t wait for official results to confidently claim victory for a 10 ballot-question referendum he devised that critics say will help him consolidate power at the expense of press freedom and judicial independence.

Ecuador’s democratically elected leftist leader was celebrating Saturday’s vote and called it the last triumph of “this dream that is called citizen’s revolution” .

An exit poll by SP Investigacion y Estudios, which regularly does work for the government, had found voters approved all the questions by greater than 60 percent.

The chief of an Organization of American States observer team, Enrique Correa of Chile, said voting appeared to go smoothly and there was no evidence of fraud.

Stability

Rafael Correa, the US-trained economist, has brought unusual stability to a small, traditionally volatile South American nation.

Some questions on Saturday’s ballot were straightforward, such as whether to ban bullfighting and gambling. Others were complex, requiring multiple-page annexes vexing even to some attorneys.

Two of the most controversial would bar owners of news media from having other commercial interests and create a government media oversight panel.

Critics say the referendum consolidated power in favor of Correa.

Former President Lucio Gutierrez, a fierce Correa opponent, said Correa was using the vote “to take justice by force and dominate the news media.”

‘Historic deed’

Correa called approval of the media ownership question “a historic deed,” and added: ”We are going to diffuse the power in this country.”

Correa proposed the referendum in January, three months after a violent, seemingly spontaneous police revolt over benefit cuts that he called a coup attempt.

Much like Chavez, he has faced a largely hostile press. Since February, he has filed defamation charges against five journalists, seeking million-dollar fines and jail terms for some.

One key ballot question called for dissolving Ecuador’s judicial oversight council and replacing it with a temporary body that would redo a court system that’s long been submissive to the will of the executive.

Another would allow authorities to detain suspected criminals longer without filing charges.

High approval ratings

Five of the questions mandate constitutional change. The other five require congressional action.

Firmly in South America’s leftist bloc, Correa enjoys a 65 percent approval rating in a country that in the decade prior to his election saw three presidents, most recently Gutierrez, ousted in popular revolts.

But Correa’s populist programs, such as $35 monthly payments to nearly 2 million poor families, construction of low-income housing and a commitment to universal free education, have boosted his popularity in this small Andean nation of 14.3 million people.

- AP