October 25 and November 29, 2009 2014 → 54.63% 45.37% | 1,197,638 994,510 Dates 25 Oct 2009 – 29 Nov 2009 | |
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Winner José Mujica | ||
General elections for President and Parliament took place in Uruguay on 25 October and 29 November 2009. In parliamentary election results, the Broad Front (left-wing coalition) emerged the winner, electing 16 senators and 50 deputies, while the National Party elected 9 senators and 30 deputies, the Colorado Party 5 Senators and 17 Deputies, and the Independent Party 2 deputies.
Contents
In the presidential contest, the first round of voting produced no majority winner, with José Mujica of the incumbent Broad Front receiving 48% of the vote and Luis Alberto Lacalle of the National Party 29%. In the runoff, Mujica handily defeated Lacalle to win the presidency.
Two ballot referendums failed. One would have revoked a previously granted amnesty and the other would have permitted absentee ballots.
Primaries
Primaries were held on 28 June 2009. Three parties had several contenders:
Results
The Uruguayan constitution requires a presidential candidate to obtain over 50% of the votes. As Mujica received 48% of the initial vote, a run-off was held on 29 November. In the runoff round, Mujica easily defeated Lacalle, 53% to 43%, to win the Presidency.
Analysts indicated that Mujica won largely because of the popularity of the Broad Front and incumbent President Tabaré Vázquez's pro-business policies that strengthened the country's economy. After taking office in 2005, Vazquez cut the unemployment rate from 12.3 to 7.3 percent, encouraged trade and foreign investment, increased wages and social spending, and boosted the central bank reserves and the country's credit rating.
The Broad Front retained a majority in parliament with 15 senators (plus Danilo Astori, later elected vice-president and thus president of the General Assembly) out of a total of 30 and 50 deputies out of a total of 99. The National Party came in second with 9 senators and 30 deputies. Both parties lost votes and legislative seats in comparison with 2004. The historically dominant Colorado made gains and increased its representation to 5 senators and 17 deputies. Finally, the Independent Party did not achieve its main goal of winning a seat in the Senate, but obtained 2 seats in the lower chamber.
Pedro Bordaberry led the Colorado Party to a notable electoral recovery, practically doubling its votes cast in 2004. The Independent Party, with candidates Pablo Mieres and Iván Posada, gained an additional seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Popular Assembly, a small, new extreme left party, did not win much support.
Referendums
Two referendums were on the ballot. One would have removed the Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State, which granted amnesty for human rights abuses under the 1973–85 dictatorship, during the presidencies of Juan María Bordaberry, Alberto Demicheli, Aparicio Méndez, and Gregorio Álvarez. The other was to enable mail-in votes by citizens living outside Uruguay. Both referenda failed, the first obtaining 47.3% of votes and the second only 36.9%