QUITO - Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa has backed off the idea of dissolving parliament and ruling by decree and plans to revise an austerity law that triggered a bloody police revolt, a government minister said on Saturday.
As unrest flared across the country, on Thursday, Mr Correa said he might dissolve parliament, which would have meant a call for new elections, seen as a tactic to bypass a deadlocked legislature and try to solidify his power.
"This measure is not part of the immediate scenario," policy minister Doris Soliz said in an interview.
Ms Soliz added that the government planned to rewrite the austerity law to clarify it, rather than make any major changes.
Shoppers flocked to Quito's colonial centre on Saturday as life returned to normal. But heavily armed troops bolstered security in and outside the presidential palace after the police uprising threatened to end almost five years of relative stability in Ecuador.
Mr Correa vowed on Saturday to round up and punish renegade police who staged the short-lived rebellion.
The police were angered by moves to cut bonuses and freeze promotions as part of nationwide spending cuts that Mr Correa is trying to push through during a financial squeeze. The law takes effect today.
The rebellion was the toughest challenge yet to Mr Correa, who remains popular for his anti-poverty programs despite a slow recovery from economic crisis in OPEC's lowest-producing member nation and the world's biggest banana exporter. - (Reuters)