Uruguayan Broad Front seeking to avoid coalition government

The Frente Amplio (Broad Front, FA) of Uruguay will need to secure over 40 percent of the vote to avoid a right-wing government coalition following the upcoming presidential elections, according to analysis released in this capital.

Less than two weeks before the elections, as decision processes are accelerated and undecided voters begin to take a position, the Director of Opinión Pública de Equipos Consultores, Ignacio Zuásnabar, outlines two possibilities for the Uruguayan leftist coalition.

With the clear likelihood of a second round vote, following the first round on October 27, the FA will face a complicated situation if it fails to surpass 40 percent of voter preferences, the current level indicated by polls, to a more comfortable 45 percent, according to comments by Zuásnabar.

Thus an intense mobilizing campaign is underway throughout the country, led by FA candidates, including running mates for the presidency, Daniel Martínez-Graciela Villar and former president José Mújica, among others.

To contribute to this effort, Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa traveled to the department of Cerro Largo, where in an act he accused the opposition of wanting to resume power, and cling onto it, accusing rivals of already distributing ministrerial posts among supporters.

This happens even though the main opposition presidential candidate, Luis Lacalle Pou, has only 22 percent support, he stressed.

The eventual coalition of opposition parties in the second round, is faced with continued differences among its potential members.

While Lacalle Pou is wooing all the formations interested in removing the Broad Front from power, Ernesto Talvi of the Colorado Party. and Pablo Mieres of the Independiente Party, have refused to work with Guido Manini Rios, of the Cabildo Abierto and the millionaire businessman Edgardo Novick, of Partido de la Gente.

In the event that at the PN and the PC managed to form a government, experienced Senator Rafael Michelini predicted that as has happened previosuly, these two parties would share out posts but eventually separate.

Although 'inoperative,' Michelini noted that these two forces now share agendas in terms of neoliberal fiscal adjustment formulas at the expense of jobs, wages and resulting in diminished union rights.

Faced with such a scenario, for the political force that accumulates 15 years of progressive governments and recognizable social achievements, there remains the challenge of securing the support of undecided voters, recovering those lost, and raising awareness about the country and society models it proposes at the polls on October 27.

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