Uruguay: center-right candidate Luis Lacalle Pou will be the next president

The center-right candidate, Luis Lacalle Pou will be the next president of Uruguay. The countdown of votes showed, Thursday, November 28, a delay impossible to catch up for his opponent Daniel Martinez. A way out ending fifteen years of hegemony of the left to the head of the country.

The latter, candidate of the Frente Amplio (Extended Front) has acknowledged his defeat on Twitter in the second round of presidential Sunday.

"We salute President-elect Luis Lacalle Pou, whom I will meet tomorrow," wrote Daniel Martinez. "We will continue to defend democracy more than ever".

The evolución del escrutinio de los votos observados no modifica tendencia.Por lo tanto saludamos al presidente electo @LuisLacallePou, con quien mantendré una reunión mañana. Agradezco de corazón has quienes confiaron in nosotros con su voto.

Taking office in March

Luis Lacalle Pou, of the National Party and at the head of a coalition going from the conservative right to the center right, answered him, also on Twitter, writing soberly "Gracias Daniel" (Thanks Daniel).

Sunday night, as the polls predicted a comfortable victory for Luis Lacalle Pou, at the end of the count, the difference was about 30,000 votes between the two candidates. One less than the number of bulletins subject to verification.

The electoral authority then announced that it would wait for the second count, which is traditionally conducted each election, before announcing a winner.

The new president will officially take office in March.

Societal laws

Aged 46 and heir to a Uruguayan political dynasty, Luis Lacalle Pou won 1,168 million votes (48.71%), against 1.139 million for Daniel Martinez (47.51%), former mayor of Montevideo 62 years and representative of the party in power, the Frente Amplio.

The victory of the center-right candidate turns the page of 15 years of presidency left in Uruguay, which had seen the alternation in power of President Tabaré Vazquez (2005-2010, 2015-2020) and the former guerrilla far left, José Mujica (2010-2015).

Following the results, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invited Luis Lacalle Pou to "come and visit Brazil quickly". The Uruguayan was also congratulated by the outgoing Argentinian center-right president Mauricio Macri.

- Telefone, parabenizei o Presidente eleito do Uruguai, Luis Lacalle Pou, pela sua histórica vitória nas urnas. Confirmed minha presença em sua posse eo mesmo também confirm that brevemente our visitará.

For fifteen years, Uruguay was ruled by the left, coming to power in favor of the "pink wave" that swept over Latin America with the governments of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner in Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasil , Evo Morales in Bolivia, or Rafael Correa in Ecuador.

The ruling coalition, for example, approved abortion (2012), same-sex marriage (2013) and was a pioneer in the legalization of cannabis (2013). In this country known to be one of the safest in Latin America, crime is at the top of voters' concerns. Uruguay has seen a 45% increase in homicides between 2017 and 2018.

On the economy side, the unemployment rate is close to 9.5% and the cost of living as well as the tax burden often come back among the recriminations of business leaders and traders.

During his campaign, Luis Lacalle Pou promised to reduce government spending to reduce the public deficit to 4.9% of GDP.

He also assured that it would not increase taxes because it must "give some margin" to those who produce in the country.

With AFP