BUENOS AIRES, August 20. /TASS/. Ecuador is set to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections that were ordered by President Guillermo Lasso in May.

The elections come amid a serious deterioration of security in Ecuador. Eleven days before the vote, gunmen assassinated presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio from the Construye political party as he was leaving a campaign event. In late July, Agustin Intriago, the mayor of the city of Manta was also killed in an attack.

Eight candidates are contending for the country’s top job. Lasso, whose term was due to expire in 2025, is not in the running.

According to polls, the race’s frontrunner is the candidate from the leftist movement the Citizenґs Revolution Movement, Luisa Gonzalez. She held various positions in the government of former president Rafael Correa, who headed the country from 2007-2017. During her election campaign, she promised to focus on fighting corruption and drug trafficking and to reduce the country’s murder rate.