Uruguay’s governing Broad Front confirmed their dominance of local politics and are likely to enjoy a parliamentary majority, after a presidential election that left Tabaré Vázquez as favourite to succeed party colleague José Mujica as head of state.
With 99.6 percent of votes counted, Vázquez surpassed the results projected from exit polls to take a total of 47.2 percent of support. This puts the former doctor well ahead of second-placed Luis Lacalle Pou, with 30.5 percent, as the pair prepare for November 30’s run-off.
In addition, the figures obtained by the 74-year-old trained oncologist, who became Uruguay’s first leftist president back in 2005, would be enough to give the Broad Front a majority in both Houses of Congress, subject to confirmation by Uruguay’s Electoral Court.
The party would take 50 of the 99 seats in the Lower House and, in the case of Vázquez triumphing in the second round, 16 out of 30 places in the Senate.
Current president José Mujica will move into the Upper House at the end of his mandate, after leading the list of senators that won a comfortable victory for the ruling party in Sunday’s elections.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald