President Rafael Correa will not have to prepare his government to face a referendum on his controversial decree last August to drill for oil in the Yasunà national reserve. The national electoral council (CNE) this week threw out the petition by YASunidos, an advocacy group which is spearheading the protest movement against the exploitation of YasunÃ, to stage a referendum on the matter after declaring that more than 50% of the signatures it presented were invalid. Polls had suggested that Correa would have faced another electoral setback after the disappointing showing of the ruling Alianza PaÃs (AP) in February’s municipal elections. End of preview - This article contains approximately 700 words.
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