Conservative candidate concedes hard-fought Uruguay presidential election to left-wing rival

The presidential candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed Uruguay for the past five years conceded defeat on Sunday after a tight run-off election, as the South American nation joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Even as the vote count continued, Alvaro Delgado, the centre-right government's candidate, told supporters at his campaign headquarters that "with sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner," referring to left-wing challenger Yamandú Orsi.

Fireworks erupted over the stage where Orsi, 57, a working-class former history teacher and two-time mayor from Uruguay's centre-left coalition known as the Broad Front, claimed victory as crowds flocked to greet him.

"The country of liberty, equality and fraternity has triumphed once again," he said, vowing to unite the nation of 3.4 million people after such a tight vote.

"Let's understand that there is another part of our country who have different feelings today," he said. "These people will also have to help build a better country. We need them, too."

With the vast majority of the votes counted, Orsi had 49.56 per cent support compared with Delgado's 46.17 per cent in an election in which nearly 90 per cent of voters turned out, according to preliminary data released by the Electoral Court of Uruguay. The rest were blank votes or non-voters.

While failing to entice apathetic young voters and generating extraordinary indecision, Uruguay's lacklustre electoral campaigns steered clear of the anti-establishment fury that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere in the world, like in the United States and neighbouring Argentina.

Delgado's concession ushers in Orsi as the country's new leader and spells an end to a short stint by the centre-right party in Uruguay. The 2019 election of President Luis Lacalle Pou interrupted 15 consecutive years of rule by the Broad Front.

"I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country," Lacalle Pou wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he would "put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate."

'This is no small feat'

Orsi's victory was the latest sign that simmering discontent over post-pandemic economic malaise favours anti-incumbent candidates. In the many elections that took place during 2024, voters frustrated with the status quo have punished ruling parties from the U.S. and Britain to South Korea and Japan.

But unlike elsewhere in the world, Orsi is a moderate who plans no radical changes and agrees with his opponent on key issues like combating childhood poverty and cracking down on organized crime.

Despite his promise to lead a "new left" in Uruguay, his platform resembles the mix of market-friendly policies and welfare programs that characterized the Broad Front's tenure from 2005 to 2020. The coalition of leftist and centre-left parties presided over a period of economic growth and pioneering social reforms that won widespread international acclaim.

Behind Uruguay's legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and sale of marijuana was former president José "Pepe" Mujica, an ex-Marxist guerilla who became a global icon and mentor to Orsi.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, turned up at his local polling station before balloting even began, praising Orsi's humility and Uruguay's famous stability.

"This is no small feat," he said of Uruguay's "citizenry that respects formal institutions."

Orsi proposes tax incentives to lure investment and social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay's unions that failed to pass in October, with Uruguayans rejecting generous pensions in favour of fiscal constraint.

"He's my candidate, not only for my sake but also for my children's," Yeny Varone, a nurse voting at a polling station, said of Orsi. "In the future they'll have better working conditions, health and salaries."

Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian with a long career in the National Party, served most recently as secretary of the presidency for Lacalle Pou and campaigned under the slogan "re-elect a good government."

With inflation easing and the economy expected to expand by some 3.2 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, Delgado has promised to continue pursuing his predecessor's pro-business policies. Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term, has enjoyed high approval ratings.

But the official results trickling in Sunday showed that mounting complaints in Uruguay about years of sluggish economic growth, stagnant wages and the government's struggle to stem an upsurge in violent crime helped to swing the election against Delgado's party.

In the weeks after the Oct. 27 general election — in which neither front-runner secured an outright majority — most polls had showed a virtual tie between Delgado and Orsi.

Turnout on Sunday stood at 89.4 per cent in the nation where voting is compulsory, with over 2.7 million citizens registered.

In his victory speech, Orsi struck a conciliatory tone.

"I will be the president who calls for national dialogue again and again, who builds a more integrated society and country," he said, adding that he would get to work "starting tomorrow."