Yamandu Orsi, candidate for the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) and running mate Carolina Cosse celebrate after polls closed in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Left-wing politician Yamandu Orsi was elected president of Uruguay, official results showed on Sunday (November 24, 2024), in a rebuke by voters of five years of conservative rule.

Uruguayans went to the polls for the second round of voting in what became a tight race between Mr. Orsi, of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) alliance, and Alvaro Delgado of the National Party, a member of outgoing President Luis Lacalle Pou’s center-right Republican Coalition.

Mr. Orsi promised in a victory speech on Sunday (November 24, 2024) evening to be a president “who calls again and again for national dialogue to find the best solutions.”

Mr. Delgado meanwhile conceded defeat, saying he was sending “a big hug and a greeting to Yamandu Orsi.”

Though the election will shift the balance of power in Uruguay, analysts did not foresee a massive change in the country’s economic direction, with Mr. Orsi having previously promised “change that will not be radical.”

Both candidates pledged to fight crime linked to drug trafficking and to boost economic growth, which is recovering from the slowdown brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and a historic drought.

Mr. Orsi won 1,196,798 votes compared to Mr. Delgado’s 1,101,296, the country’s Electoral Court said — 49.8 percent to 45.9 percent.

Cheers broke out in the capital Montevideo, a bastion of Frente Amplio support, when projections showing Orsi in the lead were announced.

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His campaign was boosted by support from Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former guerrilla lionized as “the world’s poorest president” because of his modest lifestyle during his 2010-2015 time in office.

Mr. Orsi, seen as an understudy of Mujica, had garnered 43.9% of the October 27 first-round vote — short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff but ahead of the 26.7 percent of ballots cast for Delgado.

The pair came out on top of a crowded field of 11 candidates seeking to replace Lacalle Pou, who has a high approval rating but is barred constitutionally from seeking a second consecutive term.

Following October legislative elections, Orsi will govern with a majority in the Senate, though the Frente Amplio is in the minority in the Chamber of Representatives.

‘A very different world’

Mr. Orsi’s victory will see Uruguay swing left again after five years of center-right rule in the country of 3.4 million inhabitants.

In 2005, the Frente Amplio coalition broke a decades-long conservative stranglehold with an election victory and held the presidency for three straight terms.

It was voted out in 2020 on the back of concerns about rising crime blamed on high taxes and a surge in cocaine trafficking through the port of Montevideo.

Polling numbers ahead of the vote showed perceived insecurity remains Uruguayans’ top concern five years later.

A 72-year-old retiree who voted, Juan Antonio Stivan, said he just wanted the next government to guarantee “safety — to be able to go out in the street with peace of mind, as an old person, as a young person, as a child.”

Congratulations rolled in from across Latin America, including from Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Chile’s Gabriel Boric.

“This is a victory for all of Latin America and the Caribbean,” Mr. Lula said on X.

Outgoing leader Pou said on social media that he called Orsi “to place myself at his disposal to begin the transition as soon as I think it is appropriate.”

Voting is compulsory in Uruguay, one of Latin America’s most stable democracies, with comparatively high per-capita income and low poverty levels.

During the heyday of leftist rule, Uruguay legalized abortion and same-sex marriage, became the first Latin American country to ban smoking in public places and the world’s first nation, in 2013, to allow recreational cannabis use.

Former president Mujica, who is battling cancer and had to use a cane to walk into his polling station to vote, said Sunday: “Personally, I have nothing more to look forward to. My closest future is the cemetery, for reasons of age.

“But I am interested in the fate of you, the young people who, when they are my age, will live in a very different world.”

Uruguay’s presidential candidate for the Frente Amplio party, Yamandú Orsi, greets supporters after casting his vote during the presidential runoff on November 24, 2024 in Canelones, Uruguay. Yamandú Orsi candidate for the Frente Amplio and Alvaro Delgado candidate for the Partido Nacional run for the presidency in a tight runoff. The winner will run the country for the 2025-2030 period.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Voters in South America’s laid-back Uruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, headed to the polls on Sunday for a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year for global elections.

The vote in the small nation of 3.4 million people sees opposition center-left candidate Yamandu Orsi take on continuity conservative runner, Alvaro Delgado, who has the backing of a third-placed ally.

Ahead of Sunday’s election, opinion polls suggested the Nov. 24 runoff promised to be razor tight, with fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the two contenders.

Unlike sharp right-left divides in recent elections in Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, Uruguay’s political arena is relatively tension-free, with significant overlap between the conservative and liberal coalitions vying for office.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close at 7:30 p.m. local time, with the first results expected two hours later.

High living costs, inequality and violent crime are among Uruguyans’ biggest worries, but inflation has been easing in the run-up to the election, and both employment and real salaries are on the rise.

President Luis Lacalle Pou, who belongs to Delgado’s National Party, is popular but he cannot run for immediate re-election due to constitutional rules.

Orsi, who has pledged a “modern left” policy approach, won 43.9% of the first-round October vote for the Broad Front and will face Delgado, who secured 26.8% but also has the backing of the conservative Colorado Party that together with his National Party made up almost 42% of votes. The two parties did the same in 2019, winning the election.

Orsi has sought to reassure Uruguayans that he does not plan a sharp policy shift in the traditionally moderate and relatively wealthy nation.

Construction worker, Ruben Parada, 44, a resident of the capital, Montevideo, said he was voting for Orsi because his Broad Front “thought less about the rich” and would do more to help working people.

Conservative Delgado, meanwhile, has asked voters to “re-elect a good government,” seeking to capitalize on the popularity of Pou.

Economic successes

While the ruling coalition is struggling to defend its record on fighting crime and over several corruption scandals, it hopes economic successes may be enough to convince voters to choose continuity over change.

“They did more in five years than the Broad Front did in 15 years,” said 38-year-old Jaqueline Fleitas, who cast her second-round ballot for Delgado, mentioning the construction of a hospital near her home in Montevideo.

“There’s still work to do, so we need five more years of this government,” she added.

Neither coalition has an absolute majority in the lower house following October’s elections. But Orsi’s Broad Front won 16 of 30 Senate seats. He says his Senate majority puts him in a better position to lead the next government.

Both contenders on Sunday are hoping to attract the roughly 8% of first-round voters who went for smaller, unaligned parties, as well as those who failed to turn out in October.

But neither made new pledges in the final weeks of campaigning, and pollsters say a televised debate on Nov. 17 appears to have had little effect.

One question as the biggest year for elections in history comes to an end is whether Uruguay will buck a global trend of incumbent parties losing vote share compared with the previous election. Voters hurt by inflation have punished parties in power, including in Britain, Japan and the United States.

A robust Uruguayan economy though could help Delgado on Sunday: “There are few indications that voters are clamoring for significant political change,” said Uruguayan analyst Nicolas Saldias of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Montevideo:

Voters in South America’s laid-back Uruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, will head to the polls on Sunday in a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year of elections.

The vote in the small nation of 3.4 million people sees opposition center-left candidate Yamandu Orsi take on continuity conservative runner, Alvaro Delgado, who has the backing of a third-placed ally.

Final opinion polls suggest the Nov. 24 runoff promises to be razor tight, with fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the frontrunners.

Unlike sharp right-left divides in recent elections in Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, Uruguay’s political arena is relatively tension-free, with significant overlap between the conservative and liberal coalitions vying for office, taking some of the sting out of Sunday’s final result.

Ballot stations open at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close at 7:30 p.m. local time, with first results expected two hours later.

Mr Orsi, who has pledged a “modern left” policy approach, won 43.9% of the October vote for the Broad Front and will face Delgado, who secured 26.8% but also has the backing of the conservative Colorado Party that together with his National Party made up almost 42% of votes. The two parties did the same in 2019, winning the election.

Mr Orsi has sought to reassure Uruguayans that he does not plan a sharp policy shift in the traditionally moderate and relatively wealthy nation.

Mr Delgado meanwhile has asked voters to “re-elect a good government,” seeking to capitalize on the popularity of President Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for immediate re-election.

Neither coalition has an absolute majority in the lower house following October’s elections. But Mr Orsi’s Broad Front won 16 of 30 Senate seats. He argues his senate majority places him in a better position to lead the next government.

Both contenders on Sunday are hoping to attract the roughly 8% of first-round voters who went for smaller, unaligned parties, as well as those who failed to turn out in October.

But neither has made new pledges in the final weeks to appeal to them, and pollsters say a televised debate on Nov. 17 appears to have had little effect.

“I don’t know who I’m voting for,” said Rosario Gusque, 42, from the region of Canelones where Orsi was previously mayor. “Even less so after seeing the debate.”

One question as the biggest year for elections in history comes to an end is whether Uruguay will buck a global trend of incumbent parties losing vote share compared with the previous election. Voters hurt by inflation and high living costs have punished parties in power, including in Britain, Japan and the United States.

A robust Uruguayan economy though could help Delgado on Sunday: “There are few indications that voters are clamoring for significant political change,” said Uruguayan analyst Nicolas Saldias of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)