The left-wing opposition candidate for the Uruguayan presidential election, Yamandu Orsi, won the second round of the election on Sunday. This victory marks the return to power of the left of the emblematic former president José Mujica.
On 94.4% of the ballots counted, Mr. Orsi obtained 1,123,420 votes against 1,042,001 for his center-right opponent Alvaro Delgado, according to official results communicated by the electoral court.
“I will be the president who calls again and again for national dialogue to find the best solutions, of course, by following our vision, but also by listening very carefully to what others tell us,” reacted during a speech to his supporters the elected president, a former history professor from the left-wing Frente Amplio coalition.
Mr. Delgado, a former veterinarian from the same right-wing national party as outgoing President Luis Lacalle Pou, conceded defeat on Sunday evening. ‘Today the Uruguayan people have chosen [celui] who will occupy the presidency of the Republic’, declared Mr. Delgado, saying ‘greet’ Mr. Orsi on behalf of ‘all the actors of the government coalition’ who supported him.
No change to expect
Yamandu Orsi finished well ahead of the first round on October 27 with 43.9% of the votes, ahead of Mr. Delgado (26.8%), who however had the reservoir of votes of Andres Ojeda, of the Colorado party (center right ), came in third position (16%).
Mr. Orsi’s victory, however, does not augur any sign of a change of direction, the president-elect having promised, when he was still a candidate, ‘a sure change which will not be radical’.
During the campaign, MM. Orsi and Delgado insisted on reviving growth and reducing the budget deficit. They pledged not to increase the tax burden and promised to fight rising crime linked to drug trafficking.
Mr. Orsi wants to develop exchanges on a regional scale, while Mr. Delgado leaned towards multilateral agreements.
Employment and security
‘I would like to congratulate […] President-elect Yamandu Orsi, Frente Amplio and my friend Pepe Mujica for their victory in today’s elections’, reacted on the social network X the president of neighboring Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “This is a victory for all of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he noted.
If Uruguay has a high per capita income, as well as lower levels of poverty and inequality compared to the rest of South America, employment and security have been placed at the center of the concerns of 3.4 million inhabitants of the country with 12 million head of cattle.
‘For employees, the last five years have not been good at all. I’m on the street all day and what worries me the most is the insecurity,’ confides Gustavo Maya, a 34-year-old gas cylinder seller and Mr. Orsi’s voter. ‘I see a lot of robberies, more and more homicides and few police officers,’ he says.
Young and undecided
The left relied on its tutelary figure, José ‘Pepe’ Mujica, the former president (2010-2015) and ex-guerrilla tortured and imprisoned under the dictatorship (1973-1985), to return to power after the Tabaré Vazquez years ( 2005-2010, then 2015-2020) which put an end to the hegemony of the right and center right.
Despite his 89 years, his fight against cancer and difficulty getting around, Mr. Mujica increased his appearances and campaign meetings to attract the vote of young and undecided people who seemed to hold the key to the election.
Outgoing President Luis Lacalle Pou, in power since 2020, was unable to run again despite a popularity rating of 50%, because the constitution prohibits running for a second consecutive term.
He promised an ‘orderly’ transition in the most stable country in Latin America, with parties with a long history, clear identities despite their unions in coalitions and whose membership is transmitted even within families. .
Concurrent general elections in the first round saw the Frente Amplio win 16 of the 30 seats in the Senate and 48 of the 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
/ATS
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