A few minutes before 11 in the morning, the candidate for president of the Frente Amplio, Yamandu Orsicast his vote at the UTU of Canelones to express his constitutional right to vote, and highlighted the strength of the Uruguayan democratic system, while calling for its reinforcement.
He began by recovering that Uruguay has been fortunate to have had democracy for more than 40 years. “We celebrate that Uruguayans can live these moments. For 40 uninterrupted years, Uruguay has had the joy that we citizens can elect our rulers. It seems obvious, but in today’s world it is a beautiful privilege.”
Asked about how he experienced this campaign, full of fake news and dirty defamations, he said: “I lived it like all campaigns, with the pleasure of living political activity, and at the same time, with the care of never falling into those things that we condemn. and that I continue to condemn them.”
“Beyond voting for yourself, what you are doing a political option or proposal that is much more collective than the idea of a superhero. (A) Yamandú Orsi is presented with a lot of commitment, but who does not forget his origin. “I am from the neighborhood and increasingly proud to be Uruguayan.”
He asked for the importance of organizing a meeting of candidates after this day, and requested that there be a series of issues on the table to work on together: “Political parties should have minimum levels of agreement on issues such as childhood and child poverty, education and security.. In security, there are issues that must be discussed”
And he added: “there are three speeds, emergencies or ways of approaching concrete actions. The first, urgent measures, or more immediate, without giving it so much drama. The second are those decisions that have to do with difficulties of a structural nature. And then, there is another level that requires yes or yes levels of minimum agreement; “We are talking about medium and long-term policies, where there are issues of security, agreement regarding education, or agreement regarding what we do with our childhoods and adolescence.”
Orsi calls for strengthening the division of powers
Regarding what would be the priority, he explained: “in the short term I already raised 48 proposals in Colonia that can be made as soon as a government takes office and always adjusting to what the current budget allows, so, There are even things we should start talking about before March”.
Regarding the responsibility of Parliament, and the necessary division of the three powers of the Republic, he reflected: “we must understand that Parliament, the Legislative Power that we vote on today, is the most similar or most accurate photo of a national political reality. So, that’s why you have to have a lot of respect for him. That is why it must always be considered by the Executive Branch, because it is the most powerful representation.”
If he becomes president, he said he will maintain the custom of continue assisting Parliament to present the annual balance sheet of management because you have to have a good relationship with that power. He also said that the Congress of Mayors is “a wonderful space” for this type of dialogue and a valuable instance to orchestrate interdepartmental and national actions.
If it becomes a government, it expects an opposition from right-wing parties with the responsibility that all oppositions have had in these 40 years of democracy: “I should not expect anything different.”
Finally, regarding Fernando Pereira’s accusations that President Luis Lacalle Pou “meddled” a lot in the campaignalmost on the verge of violating the Constitution, Orsí declared: “I prefer not to comment on what others comment, beyond the fact that any opinion deserves all my respect. It is a way of walking half along the parapet that all Executive Powers have throughout history. “There is no need to give it so much importance.”
