MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mujica proposes wife Topolansky as the ruling coalition's vice-president candidate

Lucia Topolansky is a former urban guerrilla, Senator and First Lady

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has said that his wife and First Lady, Lucia Topolansky would make “a good Vice-president”. His statement comes ahead of June's primary and October's presidential election when Mujica's five year term will be over and he can't be re-elected immediately.

 “Lucia has the advantage of many years experience in Parliament. Under Uruguay's constitution the vice-president is responsible for most negotiations in parliament and needs to have that capacity. Anyhow it's not an easy job, but time will say and decide”, said Mujica.

Although admitting that “most probably several more candidates will surface”, Mujica is seeing forcing the situation since public opinion polls indicate that the current ruling coalition, Broad Front, could repeat a consecutive third five year term with former president Tabare Vazquez as the almost undisputed hopeful candidate for the coming June primary.

The big battle thus will be the second place in the presidential ticket for which there are already other hopefuls. Only last week current Vice-president Danilo Astori during a political rally of his sector publicly proposed Socialist Senator Monica Xavier, who also is president of the Broad Front, as the best candidate next to Vazquez in the presidential ticket.

Mujica pointed out that 'competition inside the Broad Front to decide the official candidates was good and certainly we will be seeing other hopefuls, from the different groups“ that make up the catch-all coalition that rules Uruguay since 2005.

Among those are not only Monica Xavier, proposed by vice-president Astori despite an agreement that the issue would be decided after June first primaries, but also Raul Sendic, a former lawmaker and ex head of Uruguay's oil and cement company Ancap who has admitted he would like to be the running mate of Vazquez. Another hopeful is Senator Constanza Moreira, a political science professor who is campaigning against Vazquez but is believed to be targeting the second place.

Last week Senator Topolansky asked specifically about the issue replied that although it has to be decided by the coalition government, ”I feel strong and capable for the job“ and 'will fight for that opportunity”

Senator Topolansky was born in 1944 in Montevideo to a middle class family. In the sixties she joined Uruguay's urban guerrilla movement Tupamaros and eventually was caught by the police and jailed. However she managed to escape and two years later was again captured but this time by the military. She spent the following thirteen years in jail until the return of democracy to Uruguay in 1984 when a generous amnesty bill voted by the first elected parliament following the dictatorship set her and all other guerrilla companions and political prisoners free,

Topolansky then joined the Popular Participation Movement, MPP, started by Mujica and other former urban guerrillas and sympathizers who opted for politics and became part of the Broad Front coalition. In 2005 with Vazquez as presidential candidate the coalition won the elections and five years later it was Mujica's chance, after defeating in the primaries his current vice-president Astori.

Both described as 'political animals' by Uruguayan analysts, Mujica and Topolansky met during the sixties but finally married in 2005; they live in a farm in the outskirts of Montevideo.