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PoliticsUruguay

Uruguay election: Left-wing candidate Orsi wins presidency

November 25, 2024

The candidate for the ruling center-right government, Alvaro Delgado, conceded defeat to his left-wing rival Yamandu Orsi following a tight race. Orsi is a political heir to former leftist President Jose Mujica.

https://p.dw.com/p/4nNny
Yamandu Orsi reacting to the first results of Uruguay's presidential election on November 4, 2024
Yamandu Orsi has won Uruguay's presidential election, bringing the leftist coalition back into powerImage: Mariana Greif/REUTERS

Left-wing candidate Yamandu Orsi from the Broad Front coalition won Uruguay's Presidential election following a second round run-off vote, official results showed on Sunday.

Orsi defeated Alvaro Delgado, the candidate from the ruling center-right National Party.

Delgado conceded with around 95% of the votes counted. Turnout reached nearly 90% in the country of around 3.5 million people, according to preliminary data released by the Electoral Court. 

Yamandu Orsi wins Uruguay presidential election

What did Orsi say?

Orsi secured 49.8% of the vote, confirming pre-election polls which projected him as a favorite, while Delgado secured 45.9%. There was a difference of around 95,000 votes between the two candidates.

"The country of liberty, equality and fraternity has triumphed once again," Orsi said in a victory speech.

"Let's understand that there is another part of our country who have different feelings today," he added. "These people will also have to help build a better country. We need them too."

Meanwhile, Delgado told supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital of Montevideo: "With sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner." 

Smooth transition promised

Current President Luis Lacalle Pou, whose victory in 2019 ended the left-wing Broad Front alliance's 15 years in power, took to social media platform X to promise a smooth transition.

"I called Yamandu Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country," Pou wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

He added he would put himself "at [Orsi's] service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate."

Orsi, a 57-year-old working-class former history teacher who had previously served as mayor of the capital Montevideo, is seen as the heir to former President Jose Mujica, himself a former Marxist guerilla, who drew global attention for his simple lifestyle while in office and his transformation of Uruguay into one of the most liberal and environmentally sustainable countries in the region.

In the lead-up to the election, issues such as years of sluggish economic growth, stagnant wages and the government's struggle to stem an upsurge in violent crime were key points of contention for voters.

Rising crime alarms Uruguayans

km/rmt (AP, AFP, Reuters)