Ecuador's Correa Scrubs Cabinet after Election Setback

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa Wednesday asked his cabinet to resign after his ruling party was soundly defeated in local elections over the weekend, a government official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the changes would be announced after next week's Carnival holiday.

Sunday's polls involving some 221 municipalities saw center-right candidates defeat Correa's candidates in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca -- the country's largest cities.

It was the biggest electoral setback for Correa and his leftist government since he took office in 2007.

Correa, a populist in the mold of the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, acknowledged that the outcome was "painful."

He told reporters Tuesday in Guayaquil, however, that he had already planned to restructure his government.

"Regardless of the election outcome, we had felt it necessary to energize the cabinet," Correa said.

Re-elected last year to a final four-year term -- the constitution prevents him from staying on longer -- Correa had argued that losing the capital to the opposition would threaten stability.

Correa made no official media announcement following Wednesday's closed-door meeting in which he requested the resignations.

But a local newspaper quoted Ecuador's Secretary of Legal Affairs Alexis Mera as saying Correa had asked for the cabinet's resignation and that he had already submitted his.