Uruguay’s presidential candidates face runoff in November

Uruguay’s two leading presidential candidates will face off in a run-off on November 24, as neither secured the majority needed in general elections, according to the country’s electoral authorities.

With 92 per cent of the votes scrutinized by the electoral court early on Monday, Yamandu Orsi of the left-wing opposition coalition the Broad Front (FA) received 43.5 per cent, while Alvaro Delgado of the centre-right National Party garnered 27 per cent in the elections held on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Orsi, 57, called for Uruguayans to unite and make a “last effort” to win the runoff in a speech to thousands of FA supporters in the Old City of Montevideo. “We are going in these 27 days for that last effort, with more desire than ever, more standing than ever,” he said.

Delgado, 55, also called for winning the runoff at an event flanked by his supporters, expressing his desire to “give Uruguay a course that allowed us to generate prosperity and emerge together from the most difficult moments, such as crises.”

More than 2.7 million Uruguayans were called to the polls to elect a successor to President Luis Lacalle Pou and renew the Parliament for the next five years.