Buenos Aires/Quito - The draft and approval of a new constitution with socialist underpinnings is progressing peacefully in Ecuador, in sharp contrast to similar reforms that have taken Bolivia close to a civil war in recent weeks.

Ecuadorians are to vote Sunday in a referendum on the constitution proposed by President Rafael Correa, and according to opinion polls some 55 per cent of the voters will favour the new text, with 444 articles.

However, just as in Bolivia, the conservative and the relatively wealthy in the impoverished northern Andean country are unhappy about Ecuador's apparent swing to the left and about the withdrawal of pure capitalist precepts.

Correa's party, Alianza Pais, holds a majority in the constitutional assembly and has been able to express its views amply during the campaign.

"The people will teach (the opposition) a democratic lesson, a thrashing," said Correa. "The 'yes' vote will bury them forever."

Just in case, the president has insisted that he will resign if the proposal is defeated.

Correa's most important electoral promise was a new constitution to lay the foundations for "21st century socialism." Though the new constitution is not socialist, in the words of Correa it will at least aim to make a fairer, more democratic society.

This includes the use of more tax funds to improve the lot of Ecuador's indigenous people. The South American nation has a poverty rate of 40 per cent and extreme inequalities between rich and poor in terms of both income and education.

The proposed constitution would also impose more social duties on private property, and would seek to redistribute land more fairly.

The document plans to create a free healthcare system with compulsory health insurance, free education and a more direct form of democracy, through greater participation.

For example, all elected officials would be susceptible to dismissal by the people, and anyone who could muster enough signatures would be able to draft a bill for the unicameral Congress - set to be known as the National Assembly.

Should the constitution be approved, a new, interim Congress would be formed, made up of members of the constitutional assembly to take care of legislation until new elections are held early next year.

Both the candidates in the last presidential runoff election were populists not linked to the traditional political parties, which are continuing to lose their influence.

In this atmosphere, the Roman Catholic Church has stood out for its strong criticism of the proposed constitution. It has dubbed the proposal unacceptable largely because of a passage that would dub same-sex cohabitation as a form of family.

The church hierarchy, however, has not protested the lack of a mentioned of God in the preamble of the new constitution, saying the secular wording is logical. However, God is indeed mentioned in passing towards the end of the text.

The constitution would also establish indigenous languages Quechua and Shuar as official languages alongside Spanish, while the traditional administration of justice by Indio communities would have to be respected by the state.

As in Bolivia, the wealthier sectors of Ecuadorian society - centred mainly in the coastal city of Guayaquil - oppose the proposed new text. The arguments are similar in both Andean countries.

The opposition calls it a copy of the "dictatorship" of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that will scare off foreign investment and hamper broader economic success.

The president is seeking to perpetuate his own power, critics claim. The inclusion of the indigenous concept of "Sumak Kawsay" - which can be translated as "good living" and refers to a harmonious relationship between human beings and the environment as opposed to economic growth - is the latest evidence of the absurdity of Correa's whole political project, the opposition warns.

"Now they want to turn us by decree not only into communists, but also into hippies," one conservative critic complained.

Over 9 million people are set to go to the polls Sunday, and voting is compulsory in Ecuador. If approved, the proposal will also entail early presidential and legislative elections.

Exit poll results were set to be made public when polls close, while official results were set to take at least 10 days. (dpa)