Daily Times

Uruguayans headed 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) is going 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. Other parties within the Republican Coalition have thrown their support behind Delgado since the first round, boosting his numbers. “Conditions are in place for us to take charge… to make the changes the country needs,” Orsi told a closing campaign rally Wednesday. Delgado, for his part, told supporters Uruguay was better off today thanks to the Republican Coalition in charge, adding: “I am prepared” to lead.