MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Landslide victory and celebration in Uruguayan presidential election.

A remarkable landmark in Uruguay's political history was achieved this Sunday when the left wing Broad Front-Progressive Encounter won by a landslide presidential and legislative elections thus breaking the uninterrupted dominance of the two traditional or historic parties that have ruled the country for the last 170 years.

A couple of hours after voting time was over, (with a massive turnout of 85% of the electoral roll) and the first results indicated that the Broad Front was going to win more than 50% of the votes in the first round, presidential candidate Tabare Vazquez claimed victory and promised to a waiting crowd that packed the streets of Montevideo that he would not let them down.

Minutes later his victory announcement, supported by local public opinion pollsters, was acknowledged by the two main candidates, Jorge Larrañaga from the National party and Guillermo Stirling from the ruling Colorado party who visited the elected president in his headquarters to personally congratulate him.

Earlier during the day exit polls and other surveys were indicating that the Broad Front was going to manage more than 50% of the vote and so avoiding a run off with the runner up.

This is the first time a left wing coalition of parties extending from former guerrillas, Trotskyites and Soviet Marxists to Socialists, Social Democrats and Christian Democrats will rule Uruguay, a country with a long and strong democratic tradition.

Addressing a crowd anxiously waiting to hear from their leader, Mr. Vazquez, an oncologist and former Mayor of the City of Montevideo, said that his "commitment to the Uruguayan people does not end today, it begins (today)", adding that his coming administration would be a "government of great changes".

Forgetting about the corruption charges he insistently hammered during the electoral campaign Mr. Vazquez advanced that he would promote dialogue with the opposition with the purpose of uniting all Uruguayans so that the people could "live better in the not too distant future".

"Celebrate, celebrate, the victory is yours" shouted Mr. Vázquez from the balcony of his main headquarters the President Hotel, which coincidently faces the Uruguayan Parliament building twelve blocks away.

By midnight Sunday, all public opinion pollsters coincided that the Broad Front was forecasted to receive 51% of the vote, followed by the National Party's 34% and the Colorado Party's 10%.

Based on these results Mr. Vázquez will have a majority in both House of Congress, but there were doubts if the Broad Front-Progressive Encounter would finally gain the eighteenth seat in Senate (out of 31) that would also ensure him the special majorities of 3/5 and 2/3 demanded by the Uruguayan Constitution for highly sensitive legislation.

Mr. Vazquez will be taking office next March first.

However in spite of all the celebration and optimism that Mr. Vazquez election triggered in the Uruguayan population, political analysts are sceptical about how much he can really advance.

Uruguay is currently recovering from one of the worst financial collapses in decades. In 2002 Uruguay suffered the contagion of the melting of the neighbouring Argentine economy which began with a run on bank deposits and ended with a drastic contraction of the country's GDP, soaring unemployment, massive emigration and social upheaval.

Secondly the incoming president has a formidable contender in his own coalition.

Actually one of the most attractive characters of the Broad Front coalition is a former Tupamaro guerrilla Juan Mujica whose plain, direct and sometimes coarse language has turned him in the most successful political communicator of the last decade in Uruguay.

Besides Mr. Mujica's political following in the coalition has proved to be the strongest, even more, almost three to one, than Mr. Vázquez Socialist party.

Among the first leaders to congratulate Mr. Vazquez on his victory were President Nestor Kirchner from Argentina; Lula da Silva, Brazil; Fidel Castro from Cuba and Hugo Chavez from Venezuela.