The left-wing Uruguayan presidential candidate Yamandu Orsi, given as the favorite, will face in a second round on November 24 that of the ruling center-right National Party, Alvaro Delgado, according to projections given on Sunday by television channels.
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Yamandu Orsi, heir to ex-president José “Pepe” Mujica, is credited with 43.2% of the votes, according to the Canal 10 channel, 44% according to Canal 12, based respectively on data from the Equipos Consultores institutes and Cifra.
His opponent’s scores are 28%, or 27%. Since no candidate managed to obtain an absolute majority, a second round scheduled for November 24 must be organized between Yamandu Orsi, a 57-year-old history professor and candidate of the Frente Amplio party, and Delgado, 55 years old.
“ Today the government is starting to change in some ways », declared the president Luis Lacalle Pouat the head of a center-right coalition, after casting his ballot. He promised a transition “ ordered » and did not answer the question of whether he would occupy the senatorial seat for which he is a candidate.
Yamandu Orsi, heir of “Pepe” Mujica
Uruguayans were called on Sunday to elect the country’s president and vice-president, as well as 30 senators and 99 deputies. Public safety is at the forefront of concerns in this country of 3.4 million people, with a high per capita income and low levels of poverty and inequality compared to the rest of the region. The country, however, is suffering from an increase in drug-related violence.
By submitting his ballot in the department of Canelones (south), which he led for almost ten years, Yamandu Orsi welcomed the “ democratic health » of theUruguayhoping that the left he represents returns to power after losing it in 2020.
The ex-president Jose Mujicaof which he is the political heir, had governed from 2010 to 2015. The 89-year-old former guerrilla, who is recovering from various health problems linked to esophageal cancer, had voted as soon as the offices opened . “ This may be my last “, he declared in front of the cameras.
In second position, Alvado Delgado, conservative veterinarian, was also the secretary of the presidency of the outgoing Luis Lacalle Pou for four years. Alvado Delgado considered that it was a “ advantage “.
Two referendums were scheduled on the same day. One concerns a controversial union proposal to lower the minimum retirement age from 65 to 60 and ban private pension plans. The other concerns the authorization of nighttime home searches. The three main presidential candidates, Andrés Ojeda of the Colorado Party being the third, have said they will not vote for the first.