Changes

In presidential elections on October 15, 2006, third-time candidate Alvaro Noboa won the first round. However, Rafael Correa, Palacio's former finance minister, running on an anti-establishment reform platform, bested Noboa in the second round presidential runoff on November 26. Election observers characterized the elections as generally free, fair, and transparent. Noboa's National Institutional Renovation and Action Party won the largest bloc in Congress in 2006 elections, followed by Gutierrez's Patriotic Society Party; Correa's Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance movement did not field any congressional candidates. Traditional parties saw their congressional representation cut in half. The new Congress took office January 5, 2007 and Correa was sworn in as President on January 15, 2007. In March 2007, 57 members of Congress were dismissed on the grounds that they violated campaign laws. Since that time, the Congress has been largely deadlocked.

In presidential elections on October 15, 2006, third-time candidate Alvaro Noboa won the first round. However, Rafael Correa, Palacio's former finance minister, running on an anti-establishment reform platform, bested Noboa in the second round presidential runoff on November 26. Election observers characterized the elections as generally free, fair, and transparent. Noboa's National Institutional Renovation and Action Party won the largest bloc in Congress in 2006 elections, followed by Gutierrez's Patriotic Society Party; Correa's Proud and Sovereign Fatherland Alliance movement did not field any congressional candidates. Traditional parties saw their congressional representation cut in half. The new Congress took office January 5, 2007 and Correa was sworn in as President on January 15, 2007. In March 2007, 57 members of Congress were dismissed on the grounds that they violated campaign laws. Since that time, the Congress has been largely deadlocked.

==Ecuador and political asylum==

==Ecuador and political asylum==