Following the previous (May 1996) general elections, President of the Republic Abdala Bucaram Ortiz was removed from office by Congress nine months later on grounds of mental incapacity. Fabian Alarcon Rivera thereupon took his place as caretaker Head of State until the May 1998 poll, which was held simultaneously with voting for Congress, provincial and local councillors.

Contestants

The leading contestants of the six (including two women) vying for the presidency were Mr. Jamil Mahuad (Popular Democracy - DP), the mayor of Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

, and Alvaro Noboa

Álvaro Noboa

Álvaro Fernando Noboa Pontón is an Ecuadoran businessman and politician.Noboa has been actively involved in politics, unsuccessfully running for the office of President of Ecuador in 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2009...

 (Roldosista Party of Ecuador - PRE), a wealthy businessman. Campaign debate was marked by personal accusations of drug links and threatened lawsuits between the two rivals alongside statements on substantive policy questions relating primarily to corruption and the country’s ailing economy. Problems in this latter sector (high inflation, budget deficit) had been aggravated by the sociological and infrastructural damage caused by the climatic phenomenon known as El Niño and the worldwide drop in oil prices, Ecuador’s main export earner. Mahuad advocated an intense program of private investment to achieve a 5% annual growth rate, privatizations, job creation and housing construction.

Polling

On polling day, Mahuad and Noboa emerged on top, going into the second round of 12 July. At the same time, the centrist DP was victorious in the expanded Congress of 121 seats (20 national and 101 provincial Deputies), up from the former 82 (12 national and 70 provincial). Capturing a total of 33 seats, it replaced the center-right Social Christian Party (PSC) - which had not fielded a presidential candidate - as leading congressional group; the latter obtained 28 seats to 22 for the populist PRE.

Mr. Mahuad won the runoff election and was sworn in as the new President on 10 August; the majority of the new Cabinet members were independents.

Results

Summary of the 30 May 1996 and 12 July 1996 Ecuador presidential election results

Elections in Ecuador

Elections in Ecuador gives information on election and election results in Ecuador.Ecuador elects on national level a head of state, , and a legislature. The President of the Republic and his vice-president are elected on one ballot for a four-year term by the people...

|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left rowspan=2 valign=top|Candidates - Parties
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=2 align=right|First round
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=2 align=right|Second round
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|%
|-
|align=left valign=top|Jamil Mahuad

Jamil Mahuad

Jorge Jamil Mahuad Witt is an Ecuadorian lawyer and politician and the 51st President of Ecuador from August 10, 1998 to January 21, 2000. There was a severe economic crisis in Ecuador , which had led to a 60% cut in the armed forces budget...

 - Democracia Popular
|bgcolor=lightgreen |
|bgcolor=lightgreen valign="top"| 35.3
|bgcolor=green |
|bgcolor=green valign="top"| 51.3
|-
|align=left valign=top|Álvaro Noboa

Álvaro Noboa

Álvaro Fernando Noboa Pontón is an Ecuadoran businessman and politician.Noboa has been actively involved in politics, unsuccessfully running for the office of President of Ecuador in 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2009...

 - Ecuadorian Roldosist Party

Ecuadorian Roldosist Party

The Ecuadorian Roldosist Party is a centre-left populist political party in Ecuador.At the legislative elections, 20 October 2002, the party won 15 out of 100 seats. Its candidate Jacobo Bucaram Ortiz won 11.9 % of the vote in the presidential elections of the same day, coming in 6th place...

|bgcolor=green |
|bgcolor=green valign="top"| 26.9
|
|valign="top"| 48.7
|-
|align=left valign=top|Rodrigo Borja Cevallos

Rodrigo Borja Cevallos

Rodrigo Borja Cevallos was President of Ecuador from 10 August 1988 to 10 August 1992.-Biography:Borja was born in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. He helped to found the Party of the Democratic Left, a socialist political party which quickly gained strength. He served several terms in Congress,...

 - Party of the Democratic Left
|
|valign="top"| 15.9
|valign="top" colspan=2 rowspan=11|
|-
|align=left valign=top|Freddy Ehlers Zurita - Pachakutik
|
|valign="top"| 14.3
|-
|align=left valign=top|Rosalia Arteaga

Rosalía Arteaga

Lupe Rosalía Arteaga Serrano de Fernández de Córdova is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the country's first female president for only two days in 1997....

 - MIRA
|
|valign="top"| 5.2
|-
|align=left valign=top|Maria Eugenia Lima - Movimiento Popular Democrático
|
|valign="top"| 2.4
|-
|align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Blank votes
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Null votes
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|
|width="75" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|align=left colspan=5|Source: http://www.tse.gov.ec/
|}