Chamber:
	Congreso Nacional
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	17 May 1992
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	General elections for the whole Congress were previously held in January 1988. The parliamentary poll was held simultaneously with voting for President of the Republic and local officials. Twelve candidates were in contention to succeed President Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, of the Democratic Left (ID) party, who was constitutionally barred from re-election. Prominent among these were Mr. Sixto Duran Ballen of the newly formed Republican Unity Party (PUR), a coalition of conservative parties; Mr. Jaime Nebot Saadi, head of the centre-right Social Christian Party (PSC); Mr. Abdala Bucaram Ortiz, the populist leader of the Ecuadorian Roldosista Party (PRE); and Mr. Raul Baca Carbo of the ruling ID. Economic issues were in the forefront of the mostly peaceful but lively campaign. Mr. Duran and Mr. Nebot both ran on free-market platforms and favoured increased foreign investment to rejuvenate Ecuador’s economy. The opposition in general blamed ID for the country’s high inflation, unemployment and poverty rates, and attacked the Government for its dogged orientation to a state-run economy. However, virulent exchanges of insults and accusations between the candidates often overshadowed debate on substantive issues, such as the foregoing or the rights of the indigenous Indian population. Polling day was largely boycotted by the Indian population. The PSC came out on top in the congressional races with 21 seats, followed by PRE and PUR (the latter allied with the Conservative Party (PCE), which captured six seats), while ID has its total halved. Altogether 13 parties gained congressional representation. As could be expected, no presidential candidate achieved the required absolute majority, necessitating a run-off on 5 June between the two leaders, Mr. Duran (36.1% of the vote) and Mr. Nebot (26.2%). The second round was won by the former, who took office on 10 August.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (17 May 1992): Elections results
Number of registered electors	5,700,00 (approx.)
Voters	73%

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Social Christian Party (PSC)	21	+5
Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano (PRE)	13	=
Republican Unity Party (PUR)*	12	+12
Democratic Left (ID)	7	-7
Conservative Party (PC)	6	+3
Popular Democracy (DP)	5	-2
Popular Democratic Movement (MPD)	4	+3
Socialist Party (PSE)	3	-5
Liberal Radical Party (PLR)	2	-1
Others	4	-3

Comments:
	* New party. Five seats added since last elections.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	73
Women:	4