Final stretch in Uruguay towards a referendum that questions the Executive

With acts, surveys, accusations and controversial statements, Uruguay enters the final stretch towards the referendum on March 27 against 135 of the 476 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC), a star project of the Executive headed by the center-right Luis Lacalle Pou.

This referendum, which analysts see as a kind of consultation on the support or rejection of the president’s management in the first two years of his term (2020-2025), values ​​articles that deal with security, public companies, education or housing, in other aspects.

Tinted in pink, the promoters of the ‘Yes’ push to nullify that portion of the articles that, they understand, include norms against popular sentiment.

On that side are the PIT-CNT trade union center and the Broad Front (FA), a left-wing coalition that governed Uruguay between 2005 and 2020 and today is the main opposition force, in addition to other social organizations that promoted for months the collection of signatures for a referendum.

On the other appear the members of the coalition that has governed the country since March 1, 2020. Identified with the light blue, in a decision of the Electoral Court highly criticized at the beginning of this campaign for being that the color that identifies the entire country , they bet on the ‘No’ when assessing that the LUC has benefited the citizenry.

His opposing ideas have been highlighted in recent hours with intense exchanges of words in a controversial tone that has little to do with the usual calm that Uruguayan politics usually offers.

The campaign for the two options continues until the end of the week, especially in the interior of the country, where, according to experts, most of the undecided are.

However, in the last few days there have been great acts directed at the masses in the capital, Montevideo, where 1.5 of the 3.5 million inhabitants of the country are concentrated.

This Thursday, the ‘No’ closed its campaign in Montevideo with an act in which the country’s vice president, Beatríz Argimón, was one of the speakers. On Saturday night, the ‘Si’ organized an event in which they combined the political rally with musical performances and which they called “ReSItal”.

For this last week great blows of effect are expected to try to convince those who have not yet decided their vote.

In another of the great controversies of this campaign, Lacalle Pou will give voice to the defense of the law that he promoted and that was enacted in July 2020. Although in Uruguay the President of the Republic cannot proselytize partisans, no rule prevents to argue in favor of a legislative project that he promoted.

Facing the ‘Yes’ supporters, who will broadcast their 7-minute message on the national radio and television network on Tuesday, March 22, the president will give a press conference at the Executive Tower a day later, despite initially using the phrase “No cheating” when asked if he would speak after his opponents.

In the face of the escalation of exchanges of messages, in recent days the head of state and the president of the FA, the former trade unionist Fernando Pereira, had a telephone conversation in which they agreed to maintain a climate of respect.

This Friday, the Factum company presented its last survey before the instance that will take place next Sunday and its results showed that so far 41% of the population eligible to vote would do so for the ‘No’ option, while that 36% would lean towards ‘Yes’.

Meanwhile, 19% of those surveyed have not yet made a firm decision, although, upon deeper analysis, 7% indicated that they would move towards ‘No’ and 6% would move towards ‘Yes’.

Next Sunday’s will be the fourth referendum at the national level since the Constitution enables this type of consultation to repeal a promulgated law.

The previous ones were held in 1989, 1992 and 2003 and in the last two he won the ‘Yes’. The only repeal that was not approved was that of the Expiration Law of the State’s Punitive Claim.