Uruguay voters head to polls with leftist alliance hoping for a comeback

NEWS WIRES

23 November 2024 at 9:25 pm·2-min read

Frente Amplio candidate Yamandu Orsi (L) and rival Alvaro Delgado

Former history teacher Yamandu Orsi of the Frente Amplio leftist alliance faces Alvaro Delgado of the National Party, part of the ruling Republican Coalition, as voters head to polls on Sunday. A victory for Orsi would see Uruguay shift left after five years of center-right rule.

Uruguayans go to the polls Sunday, with the leftist alliance of celebrated ex-president Jose "Pepe" Mujica hoping to reclaim the country's top job five years after a right-wing victory driven by concerns over crime and taxes.

Former history teacher Yamandu Orsi of the leftist Frente Amplio (Broad Front) will go head-to-head with ex-veterinarian Alvaro Delgado of the National Party, a member of outgoing President Luis Lacalle Pou's center-right Republican Coalition.

Orsi, 57, is seen as the understudy of 89-year-old Mujica, a former guerrilla lionized as "the world's poorest president" during his 2010-2015 rule because of his modest lifestyle.

Orsi had garnered 43.9 percent of the October 27 first-round vote -- short of the 50-percent cutoff to avoid a runoff but ahead of the 26.7 percent of ballots cast for Delgado, 55.

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.

Polls point to a tight race Sunday, with Orsi only marginally ahead in stated voter intention in South America's second-smallest country.

Polling numbers show perceived insecurity remains Uruguayans' top concern five years later.

(AFP)

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