2024-10-28 01:38:00
The presidential elections will have a second round in Uruguay. Considered the favourite, the left-wing candidate Yamandu Orsi was clearly ahead on Sunday 27 October, according to projections provided by television channels, but below the 51% threshold that would have allowed him to be elected in the first round. On November 24 he will face the candidate of the governing center-right National Party, Alvaro Delgado.
Mr. Orsi, successor to former president José “Pepe” Mujica, is entitled to 43.2% of the votes, according to Canal 10, and 44% according to Canal 12, according to data from the Equipos Consultores and Cifra institutes respectively. Álvaro Delgado received, according to projections, 27 or 28% of the votes.
“Today the government is starting to change in some ways”said President Luis Lacalle Pou, head of a center-right coalition, after casting his ballot. He promised a transition “tidy” and did not answer the question whether he would take the senatorial seat for which he is running.
Election of 30 senators, 99 deputies and two referendums
On Sunday, Uruguayans were called to elect the president and vice president of the country, 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 high per capita income and low levels of poverty and inequality compared to the rest of the region. The country, however, suffers from an increase in drug-related violence.
Presenting his report card in the Canelones department, which he directed for almost ten years, Yamandu Orsi, history professor, 57 years old, welcomed the “democratic health” of Uruguay, hoping that the left he represents will return to power after losing it in 2020. He is a member of the Frente Amplio party.
Former president José Mujica, of whom 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 polls opened offices. “It could be my last”he declared in front of the cameras.
In second place, Alvado Delgado, a 55-year-old conservative vet, was also secretary of the presidency of outgoing president Luis Lacalle Pou for four years. Mr. Delgado believed that it was a “advantage”.
Two referendums were scheduled for the same day. The first concerns the controversial union proposal to lower the minimum retirement age from 65 to 60 and to ban private pension plans. The other concerns the authorization for nighttime house searches. The three main presidential candidates, of which the third is Andrés Ojeda of the Colorado Party, have declared that they will not vote for the former.
#leftwing #candidate #leading #face #power