Ecuador's President Rafal Correa said his constitutional referendum won a "crushing victory", after exit polls showed some 66 to 70 percent of voters backed his socialist reform proposal.

"The new constitution has had a crushing victory. It's a historic moment that transcends by far the people who by luck or accident have been involved in this process," Correa said on Sunday in opposition stronghold Guayaquil, on the Pacific coast.

In a bid to avert unrest, Correa asked the opposition and all "no" voters to remain calm and issued a called to unity.

"We extend them our hand. Let them acknowledge defeat and let's strike out together in the new direction the great majority of Ecuadorans, as well as all Latin America, are setting: a society with more justice, much more equality and without so much ... misery."

21st century socialism

Correa earlier had voiced hope for a solid "yes" vote, as he strives for what he calls a "21st century socialism" to more closely align Ecuador with leftist allies Venezuela and Bolivia, making it the latest South American country to chart a leftward course.

Predictions of victory for the president's initiative came scarcely an hour after the 5pm (2200 GMT) end of balloting across the country. Exit polls showed voter support for the measure at between 66 percent and 70 percent.

Early on Sunday, a beaming Correa, wearing traditional indigenous attire, cast his ballot at a precinct north of the capital city Quito, predicting victory and telling his compatriots that a "yes" vote would allow Ecuadorans to "take their own destiny, their own future in their hands."

Passed by a Constitutional Assembly on 24 July, the new Basic Law would strengthen the government's hold on the economy of this small nation of 13.9 million people ? half of whom live in poverty ? which is based chiefly on oil exports and money sent home by its emigrants.

Some of the emigrants, including those from large exile communities in Spain, the United States and Italy, are also eligible to vote.

Presidential powers expanded

The proposed constitution is inspired by the leftist majorities in power in Venezuela and Bolivia and their repudiation of the neoliberal policies of the 1990s, but falls short of nationalising the country's national resources as Bolivia and Venezuela have done.

Its 444 articles expand presidential powers in an attempt to end political instability in a country that in the last 10 years has sent three presidents packing before their terms were up.

The new constitution would allow the president to run for two consecutive four-year terms, dissolve Congress and call early elections.

Correa (45) has already announced his intention to run for re-election in February 2009, if it is approved, in which case early elections would be convened by the Constitutional Assembly.

The new constitution would also close down all foreign military bases in Ecuador, forcing the United States to move its regional anti-drug operations, run for nearly 10 years from an air base in the port city of Manta.

Opposition leader and Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nebot has railed against the new constitution he says would create a centralised form of government that would threaten private property and which has already proven to be inefficient.

"Do you think we can model ourselves after Venezuela, a country swimming in oil money but whose people have to line up to get food, or Bolivia, a country split down the middle because its government doesn't understand?" Nebot recently told AFP.

The Roman Catholic Church, a major player in this predominantly Catholic nation, has also criticised the new constitution, especially the articles it says will lead to the legalisation of abortion and same-sex marriage.

Correa addressed those doubts in his victory speech to supporters.

"Let's see if the new constitution is pro-abortion, centralist, hyperpresidentialist, a harbinger of dictatorship. Let's see if all that is true."

He called on all sectors in Ecuador to join forces to move the country forward, but warned: "Not a single step backwards. All the progress we've made we'll not give up. We can only look to the future.

"Let's move forward together, but on the path of change, of the future."