A glance at Ecuador's draft constitution

The Associated Press
September 28, 2008

Highlights from Ecuador's 444-article draft constitution, which would be the Andean nation's 20th. Voters decide Sunday whether to adopt it.

_ The president can dissolve Congress once, and Congress can unseat the president once.

_ The president controls monetary and credit policy, supplanting the Central Bank.

_ The president can run for one additional four-year term (Correa could serve through 2017).

_ Same-sex unions will be afforded the same rights as heterosexual marriages.

_ Those who work in the home are eligible for social security.

_ New fathers have the right to paternity leave, joining new mothers.

_ Military service will no longer be mandatory.

_ The voting age will be lowered to 16, and soldiers and police will gain the right to vote.

_ Foreign military bases or installations will be prohibited on Ecuadorean soil. The United States has operated anti-drug surveillance flights out of Ecuador's Manta air base since 1999. The 10-year lease expires next year and will not be renewed.

_ Among civic responsibilities is the Quichua Indian ancestral code of conduct: "Be not lazy and neither lie nor steal."