Moreno, Lasso begin government transition in Ecuador

Quito: Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno received President-elect Guillermo Lasso at the presidential palace in Quito to officially start the government transition process, with just over a month to go before the end of the current administration.

Moreno, who will leave office on May 24, received Lasso, also a former banker, and Vice President-elect Alfredo Borrero and their wives in their first official meeting on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

It came a day after the National Electoral Council declared Lasso, a centre-right candidate, the winner of the second round of the presidential election held on April 11.

Lasso, who will govern for four years, won with 52.36 per cent of the votes (4,656,426) against leftist Andres Arauz, who obtained 47.64 per cent of the ballots (4,236,515).

During the meeting, Moreno said that the technical teams of the outgoing and incoming governments, designated to carry out the transition process, will meet as many times as necessary to transfer information in a "timely, transparent, truthful and technical manner".

Meanwhile, Lasso said his priority will be vaccinating the population against Covid-19, something he promised during his campaign, saying that in his first 100 days in office, he would advance the immunisation of 9 million people in the country.