By Charles Newbery
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Uruguay’s presidential election is poised to go to a runoff after a tight vote Sunday, with the second and third place finishers already teaming up to take on the ruling party.
Revised exit polls show Tabare Vazquez of the ruling leftist party, Broad Front, likely snared between 46 percent and 47 percent of votes, up from a previously estimated 43-46 percent.
That is shy, however, of the 50.1 percent needed for a first-round victory, meaning Vazquez, a 74-year-old oncologist, will have to run against Luis Lacalle Pou of the conservative National Party in a Nov. 30 runoff.
Lacalle Pou, a 41-year-old lawyer and legislator, is poised to place second with as much as 32 percent of the vote, according to exit polls.
The official results are due to be announced at 10 a.m. local time (1200GMT) Monday.
But exit polls were enough for third-place finisher, Pedro Bordaberry of the conservative Colorado Party, to pledge his support for Lacalle Pou in the second round.
In a televised speech at his party bunker in Montevideo, Bordaberry said he “will work every hour for Lacalle Pou to win the ballot.” He added that “Uruguay needs a change and it must change.”
The election comes after a decade of rule by Broad Front brought strong economic growth and soaring foreign investment.
The ruling party also has pushed through progressive social reforms including the legalization of abortion, gay marriage and marijuana, but it has failed to rein in a fiscal deficit and cut 9 percent annual inflation.
Lacalle Pou ran his campaign with vows to deal with the latter, calling for “fresh air” for the country.
Bordaberry joined Lacalle Pou at a press conference Sunday, with the latter saying the possibility of winning the presidency is “alive.”
For his part, Vazquez said that as president he would continue to pursue social progress, a strategy that he began when he served as president from 2005 to 2010 and was continued by his successor, Jose Mujica, the current president who was excluded from running due to constitutional term limits.
Even though he likely will not win outright in the first round, Vazquez said he expects Broad Front to maintain the congressional majority it has enjoyed for the past decade.
Exit polls initially show otherwise. Regardless of which party wins, a majority in Congress is unlikely, making it harder to pass laws.
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