left-wing opposition candidate wins presidential election

According to the final official results, Yamandu Orsi won with 49.8% of the votes against Alvaro Delgado.

It is a victory which marks the return to power of the left in Uruguay. Opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi won the presidential election on Sunday, November 24. According to the final official results, this candidate from the left-wing coalition Frente Amplio won with 49.8% of the votes against 45.9% for his right-wing opponent Alvaro Delgado, man of outgoing president Luis Lacalle Pou, in power since 2020. The latter quickly conceded defeat.

“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”promised the president-elect. At 89 years old and despite declining health, the emblematic ex-president José “Pepe” Mujica spared no effort to put his great popularity at the service of his foal, a 57-year-old former history professor. like him, he comes from a modest rural background.

Horns and shouts of joy rang out in the capital Montevideo on Sunday evening and thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate Yamandu Orsi's victory. His election marks the return of the left to power after a previous sequence of fifteen years under Tabaré Vazquez (2005-2010 and 2015-2020) and José “Pepe” Mujica (2010-2015). Yamandu Orsi will take office on March 1.