He obtained victory in the second round with 49.8 percent of votes compared to 45.8 percent of his opponent Álvaro Delgado
▲ Massive celebration in Montevideo for the success of Yamandú Orsi on election day, yesterday.Photo Afp
Ap, Reuters, Europa Press and Sputnik
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, November 25, 2024, p. 23
Montevideo. The Broad Front candidate, Yamandú Orsi, yesterday won victory in the second presidential round in Uruguay and marked the return to power of the left, which governed the country between 2005 and 2020.
In his first speech after the election results were known, Orsi, along with his running mate, Carolina Cosse, went on stage mounted in his campaign center and amidst fireworks and shouts he thanked all those who did this campaign in which we achieved nothing less than victory.
He added: the country of freedom, equality and fraternity triumphs once againand expressed respect for his rival from the ruling coalition, Álvaro Delgado.
With 99.94 percent of the votes counted, Orsi reached 49.84 percent support compared to 45.87 for Delgado in an election that had a participation close to 90 percent, according to preliminary data released by the Electoral Court.
The opponent admitted to the Ap news agency that the close electoral contest made him feel butterflies in the stomach, head and entire bodybut who will begin working immediately to shape his government, which will take office on March 1, 2025.
Let us understand that there is a part of our people that today has a different feeling. These people will also have to help build a better country. We need them tooOrsi told those attending his speech.
In this context, he assured that tomorrow he will begin working to implement a government in search of national unity.
I am going to be the president who calls again and again for national dialogue, to build a more integrated society and country.he assured. There is no future if we put a wall on ideashe asserted.
A while before, the outgoing president, Luis Lacalle Pou, congratulated Orsi, while Delgado acknowledged defeat by stating in his campaign center: “with sadness, but without a guilt complex, we can congratulate the winner.
Today is the victory of the people’s militancy, there are many people who remain below the poverty line and we must invest in health, in social policies, in education. The people deserve itteacher Carina Rodríguez told Ap.
Some 2.7 million Uruguayans were called to vote in these elections marked by the moderation of the proposals and the tranquility of Uruguayan politics, considered one of the most stable and consolidated democracies in Latin America.
According to the Electoral Court, the day It passed calmly and without incident..
Orsi, 57 years old and heir to the historic José Mujica, trusted in the strength of the Frente Amplio to return power to the left after five years of absence.
With 20 years of political experience, Orsi emphasized his promise to govern with a renewed left, focused on income redistribution to boost economic growth. Likewise, he proposed incentives to revitalize the country’s essential activities such as agriculture, industry, tourism and small businesses, in addition to having adopted a more market-friendly discourse.
Mujica, 89 years old and recovering from esophageal cancer, after voting praised the solidity of the electoral process in Uruguay and stressed the importance of preserving it for future generations.
Neither of the two coalitions has an absolute majority in the lower house after the October elections, but the Frente Amplio obtained 16 of the 30 seats in the Senate. Winner Orsi noted that a majority in the upper house would help him lead the next government.
The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; from Bolivia, Luis Arce; from Chile, Gabriel Boric; of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, as well as the former leaders of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and of Bolivia Evo Morales, congratulated Orsi. The government of Argentina greeted the Uruguayan people and the future ruler.
