" Now yes ! " Their enthusiasm had been showered four days earlier, but supporters Luis Lacalle Pou blew their joy on the streets and social networks, Thursday, November 28, after the official announcement of the victory of their camp. The activists of the "multicolored coalition" – a broad alliance of five parties, from the center right to the far right – met Friday on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, Montevideo, to celebrate the future alternation in Uruguay.
After a rare suspense in the political history of the small country (3.5 million inhabitants), the Electoral Court declared Luis Lacalle Pou winner of the presidential election against his opponent, the Socialist Daniel Martinez. On Sunday, November 24, preliminary results gave Mr. Lacalle Pou less than 29,000 votes in advance, while 35,000 ballots "Observados" – belonging to voters not voting in their usual constituency – still had to be counted. But the final recount of the ballots has swept the last hopes of Frente Amplio ("Extended Front"), the leftwing coalition in power since 2005.
Almost immediately after the announcement of the Electoral Court, Daniel Martinez acknowledged his defeat and congratulated Mr. Lacalle Pou, who will take office on 1st March 2020. "We will continue to defend democracy with more force than ever", warned the former mayor of Montevideo on Twitter.
Victory hard wrenched
For Luis Lacalle Pou, 46, this election is a successful bet: after a failed first attempt in 2014 (he had lost to Tabaré Vázquez, who is currently finishing his second term, after a first made between 2005 and 2010), this former Deputy and Senator of the National Party (center-right) will put an end to fifteen years of power of Frente Amplio. But his victory, hard to tear, seems to announce a corseted presidency.
"The president will have the weakest majority since the return of democracy (in 1985, after twelve years of military dictatorship), says Antonio Cardarello, professor of political science at the University of the Republic in Montevideo. Moreover, he is far from having the popularity levels of Tabaré Vázquez or José Mujica. " The latter, former guerrilla during the dictatorship and president from 2010 to 2015, had received up to 83% of positive opinions at the beginning of his term.
