The candidate is giving way to a left-wing challenger in Uruguay’s hard-fought presidential election

The presidential candidate for the Conservative Coalition that has ruled Uruguay for the past five years conceded defeat on Sunday after a tight election, as the South American country joined others around the world in condemning the ruling party in a historic election year.

Even as the counting of votes continues, Alvaro Delgado, a candidate for the central government, told supporters at his campaign headquarters that “with sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner,” referring to his rival Yamandú Orsi.

Fireworks went off on stage when Orsi, 57, a former history teacher and two-time mayor of Uruguay’s leftist Broad Front coalition, claimed victory as crowds gathered to greet him.

“The land of freedom, equality and fraternity has won again,” he said, pledging to unite the nation of 3.4 million people after a strong vote.

“Let’s not understand that there is another part of our country that has different feelings today,” he said. “These people will have to help build a better country. We need them again.”

With the majority of votes counted, Orsi received 49.56 percent of support compared to Delgado’s 46.17 percent in an election where nearly 90 percent of voters turned out, according to preliminary data released by Uruguay’s Electoral Court. The rest were blank or non-voting ballots.

While it failed to attract apathetic young voters and generate surprising engagement, Uruguay’s low-profile election campaigns avoided the anti-establishment rage that has fueled foreign takeovers elsewhere in the world, such as in the United States and neighboring Argentina.

Delgado’s approval ushers in Orsi as the country’s new leader and spells the temporary end of the center-right party in Uruguay. The 2019 election of President Luis Lacalle Pou interrupted 15 consecutive years of Broad Front rule.

“I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as the elected President of our country,” Lacalle Pou wrote on X, previously on Twitter, adding that “he will put himself to his work and start the revolution as soon as I see fit.”

‘This is no small thing’

Orsi’s victory was the latest sign that widespread discontent about the post-pandemic economic downturn is favoring candidates. In the 2024 general election, voters frustrated by the status quo have punished ruling parties from the US and Britain to South Korea and Japan.

But unlike anywhere else in the world, Orsi is a moderate who does not plan major reforms and agrees with his opponent on important issues such as fighting child poverty and ending organized crime.

Despite his promise to lead the “young left” in Uruguay, his platform is similar to the mix of policies and social programs in favor of the markets that characterize the period of administration of the Broad Front from 2005 to 2020. of economic growth and social reform is gaining worldwide acclaim.

Behind Uruguay’s legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana was former president José “Pepe” Mujica, a former Marxist guerilla who became an international icon and Orsi’s mentor.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, arrived at a polling station in his hometown before voting even began, praising Orsi’s humility and the Uruguayan’s famous stability.

“This is not a small thing,” he said about “Uruguayan citizens who respect the legal institutions.”

Orsi is proposing tax incentives to attract investment and social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of reforms sought by Uruguayan unions that failed to pass in October, when Uruguayans rejected large pensions in favor of fiscal restrictions.

“He is my member, not only for me but also for my children,” Yeny Varone, a nurse voting at the polling station, said of Orsi. “In the future they will have better working conditions, health and wages.”

Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian and longtime National Party veteran, most recently served as Lacalle Pou’s presidential secretary and campaigned under the slogan “re-elect the good government.”

With inflation rising and the economy expected to grow by 3.2 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, Delgado promised to continue following previous policies to support businesses. Lacalle Pou, constitutionally unable to run for a second consecutive term, enjoys high approval ratings.

But official results out on Sunday showed that growing grievances in Uruguay about years of sluggish economic growth, stagnant wages and the government’s struggle to curb a rise in violent crime helped swing the election against Delgado’s party.

In the weeks after the October 27 general election – in which no frontrunner gained an outright majority – most polls showed a visible tie between Delgado and Orsi.

Voter turnout on Sunday was 89.4 percent in a nation where voting is mandatory, with more than 2.7 million citizens registered.

In his victory speech, Orsi struck a conciliatory tone.

“I will be a president who calls for a national dialogue again and again, who builds an integrated society and country,” he added, adding that he will take office “from tomorrow.”