19-11-2015: Latin American Weekly Report

interview with Telesur on 10 November when he said that he could not see a single opposition presidential candidate who could win in 2017 and that the ruling Alianza País (AP) could run with someone other than him. Correa had said after his electoral triumph in February 2013 that he would retire from political life in 2017 only to push for a constitutional reform a year later to permit indefinite re-election for all elected posts, citing a “resurgence of the Right” in municipal elections. “The big battle [in 2017],” Correa told Telesur would be to preserve a majority in the national assembly to ensure the opposition could not “block and blackmail” the government. He added that “with great relief I say that there will be no need for my presence, I never wanted it, for me [the presidency] has been an effort.”