The predictions have been fulfilled in Uruguay: the clerical Frente Amplio (FA) was the political force with the most votes last Sunday in the presidential and legislative elections. The candidate, Yamandú Orsi, who had the support of former president José Pepe Mujica in the campaign, received 43.9% of the votes, with 99.9% included, almost six points below the 50% necessary to win in the first round. It is a bitter victory, because the FA had hoped to surpass the percentage announced by the polls and face the second round, which was scheduled for November 24, with more strength. Behind Orsi is the ruling party Álvaro Delgado, from the National Party (center right), who improves the forecasts with 26.7% of the votes and remains the leader of the current ruling coalition won by the Frente Amplio in 2019.
Behind Delgado is Andrés Ojeda, from the conservative Colorado Party, with 16%, almost three percentage points above the previous election. With this result, this formation is out of the next round. The rest of the parties have received less than 5% of the votes. Cabildo Abierto, the right-wing party led by Guido Manini Ríos, has fallen sharply and barely reached 2.4%, while the junior coalition partner, the Independent Party, would get another 1.73%. With these results, the second round is likely to be close, but with the ruling party as your favorite: the sum of the parties in the governing coalition reaches 47% compared to almost 44% on the left.
“Today is a night of joy, a celebration of democracy,” Orsi said in front of the crowd that was waiting for him on Montevideo’s coastal promenade to celebrate the victory. Like many of his core trainees, he insisted that the Frente Amplio is “the party with the most votes in Uruguay”, as it happened in the last elections. While Orsi was speaking, the shield of Uruguay was visible at the back of the stage. “We are going for that last effort, with more desire than ever,” he said, and urged unity before the voters. FrenteAmplistas who listened to him.
In the Plaza Varela in Montevideo, meanwhile, gathered hundreds of euphoric militants from the governing coalition formations, whose parties presented themselves separately, with Nacional Delgado as the one that voted the most. Their leaders arrived after eleven thirty at night and appeared to be united in a “neutral position” arranged for the occasion. “Good evening, coalition,” greeted Delgado. In the background a large Uruguayan flag was visible and the announcement of the Government Coalition 2030. “The polls have spoken, Uruguay said that the coalition is the most voted political project in the country,” he said. He announced that 28 of the candidates will meet next Monday to design a campaign for the second round on November 24. “Today we begin to bring together the Government and elect the President of the Republic, without any doubt about that,” Delgado added. This same Monday, the candidate continued, the technicians of the coalition parties will also meet to compose a common program.
Congressional election
On this day, the composition of the two legislative chambers, which consisted of 99 deputies and 30 senators, was also defined. According to the first projections, the ruling bloc could achieve the majority in the Chamber of Deputies, with 30 legislators from the National Party, 17 from the Colorado Party, two from the Cabildo Abierto and one from the Independent Party, although this situation to be different i. end of examination. The Frente Amplio, for its part, would have 47 seats. The news of the night is that the Anti-Sovereign Identity System party would enter the Chamber of Deputies with two seats. In the case of the Senate, the situation is even more balanced. The left would get 16 seats, nine for the National Party and five for the Colorado Party, according to preliminary data.
Uruguay also spoke out about two constitutional amendments that were submitted to a referendum. Finally, the social security reform proposed by the Confederation of PIT-CNT workers and some sectors of the left has not been approved. Ballot of Yes He received 38.8% support, more than ten points below the 50% needed to approve. The aim of this initiative was to lower the retirement age from 65 to 60, a retirement equivalent to the national minimum wage and to abolish private savings managers. The other reform which sought to enable police raids at night prohibited under the Constitution was also not approved. In this case, the vote was 39.9%.
Beyond these results, politicians unanimously highlighted the peace that the Uruguayans were living on the day. As happens every five years, the elections were held with complete calm and in a festive atmosphere that contrasted with the lack of citizen interest that had dominated the previous months of the campaign.
Since its democratic recovery in 1985, Uruguay has enjoyed political stability that is often praised outside its borders, largely based on the strength of its political parties. According to the index of The Economistthe country is among the 14 full democracies in the world. For that reason, there were no international observers in last Sunday’s elections, but special foreign visitors came to Uruguay to learn about the work of the Electoral Court, a hundred-year-old public body whose performance is supported by the entire system . Participation reached 90% of the 2.7 million eligible to vote, in a country where voting is compulsory.
Former President Mujica, 89, in the Cerro neighborhood of Montevideo was one of the first to vote on Sunday this spring. On the way out she watched the election campaign: “I saw her a bit distracted, I was very worried about what she was going to wear and not how it will be created. “They didn’t give a single ball to the agricultural exporting country.” In addition, he referred to the low intensity of citizen participation during these months and called for “support” for democracy. “Until now, people haven’t done anything better,” said Mujica, who arrived in good spirits and in a wheelchair, due to the weakness of the treatment he received for esophageal cancer diagnosed in May of this year .
@breath Uruguay differs from other Latin American democracies, among other things, because of the greater weight of political parties on candidates. The case of Pepe Mujica, president from 2010 to 2015, is almost an exception. He was an iconic figure in the politics of the continent due to his particular way of governing, his firm convictions and his constant interest in the most disadvantaged people. A very present figure in the political and social life of Uruguay, which elects a new president this Sunday, October 27. #pepemujica #josemujica #music #uruguay #political tech #noticiastiktok #politics # Latin America
In these elections, President Luis Lacalle Pou was in charge of all the Senate lists of the National Party, who avoided answering whether he would take his seat or not. When he arrived at the polling station, the President shook hands with the voters of the Broad Front and celebrated the tranquility of the day throughout the national territory. “The Government starts to change today, there are 125 days left. Until March 1 we will be like the first day, finishing our task. We want to make an orderly transition,” said Lacalle Pou.
With 3.4 million inhabitants, Uruguay is part of the group of countries considered “high income” by the World Bank for the past 12 years and classified as a country with “very high human development” by the United Nations Development Program. However, it poses challenges that the next Government will have to tackle once it takes office in March 2025, as all political leaders agree. Among the most pressing are child poverty, estimated at 20%, as well as public insecurity. With a rate of 11.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the situation of Uruguay is not among the most important in Latin America, but it doubles the global average and is far from the rate recorded, for example, in Chile – 4.5 homicides 100,000― , to which it is often compared.