Photo: El Observador
By: María Josefina Arce.
The left-wing Frente Amplio won Sunday's elections and will govern Uruguay for the next five years from March 2025.
Yamandú Orsi will be the country's new president after winning the election with more than 49% of the vote. The Front's candidate had already won the most votes in the first round of the election in October last year.
Orsi defeated his rival Alvaro Delgado of the National Party, head of the current coalition government, who came second on 27 October.
It was a quiet campaign, with opinion polls showing Orsi as the early favorite.
Uruguayans have put their faith in the Frente Amplio, which ruled the South American country for 15 years from 2005 to 2020 and whose victory in the 2004 elections ended decades of power-sharing between the National and Colorado parties.
He is remembered for his achievements in a number of areas, including solid and inclusive economic growth and social legislation that has been described by experts as a benchmark in Latin America, such as abortion.
During his mandate, the Comprehensive Law against Gender Violence and the Law on the Employment of People with Disabilities were approved, among other important laws.
The poverty rate has also been reduced from almost 40 per cent in 2005 to less than 9 per cent in 2019. Another achievement was the reduction of infant mortality.
A benchmark of the Frente Amplio governments was the inauguration of the José Martí Eye Hospital in the capital, Montevideo, with the help of Cuba, allowing Uruguayans with limited resources to receive ophthalmological treatment.
Yamandú Orsi will face many challenges in the coming years, such as improving the health system, education and reducing poverty, which currently affects children particularly badly, in addition to drug trafficking, increasing insecurity and the high cost of living.
To implement his government program, the president-elect will have to negotiate with the other political forces present in Congress, since although the Frente Amplio won control of the Senate, the right-wing governing coalition won the Chamber of Deputies.
