Coalition appeals to the 2019 election and asks citizens to ratify their vote in the referendum

The campaign towards the referendum for the 135 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) has been underway for several days, but this Monday the governing coalition made its official launch at a press conference led by the party leaders.

The instance, which lasted about 25 minutes, was led by the Vice President of the Republic, Beatriz Argimón; the president of the white directory, Pablo Iturralde; the general secretary of the Colorado Party, Julio María Sanguinetti; the leader of Cabildo Abierto, Guido Manini Ríos; the Minister of Labor and Social Security and leader of the Independent Party, Pablo Mieres; and the deputy and leader of the People’s Party, Daniel Peña.

During their speeches, the leaders showed multiple matches and pointed out that the vote on March 27 is “against the government” beyond the legal norm itself, something that has been pointed out by the ruling party in several instances and that the Broad Front (FA) and the social organizations promoting the referendum deny. “It’s a petty political move”, stressed Manini Ríos in reference to the constitutional mechanism.

The sector leaders demanded that the people, in this sense, that if they understand it that way, they deposit the light blue ballot in the polls to “endorse” the change of political sign that was processed with the victory of Luis Lacalle Pou in the last ballot. In addition, they stressed that the government’s flagship law was announced during the electoral campaign and that a large part of the document signed by the partners in Commitment to the country was later finalized in the LUC.

The ex-president Sanguinetti pointed out that “Making a rematch or second half (alluding to the 2019 elections) would be a very dangerous step backwards”, while the lobbyist leader stressed that the opposition intends to give “a blow” to the coalition to which, he insisted, the “popular mandate” ratified in the presidential elections.

A concept with the same tonic managed wednesday. “The debate we have is whether this government has acted and has carried out its task based on the mandate received,” said the minister, before asking “citizen ratification” to “continue moving forward” in the rest of the period the government program promoted by the multicolored partners. “We are going to ask the people to say No to the trancazo,” stressed the Secretary of State.

Deputy Pain, for his part, stated that the launch of the campaign configures the commitment “to the future” and to the fact that “there is no need to go back”. Iturralde In turn, he asked for their “right to govern” to be “reaffirmed”.

The leader of Cabildo Abierto said that the referendum is a “petty political move” by the opposition.

The Vice President of the Republic, in turn, alluded to the course of the emergency law and recalled that, during the electoral campaign, the now president “clearly” announced that “one of the first measures” was going to be the LUC. In this sense, argimon pointed out that the presentation of the articles before Parliament in April 2020 was “as promised” to the public.

The activity was attended by several legislators and government officials (in addition to party leaders) and the political leaders also commented that the campaign for the referendum will run “the whole country” to explain the law “with information and with the truth”. They also emphasized the need for people to participate of the campaign that will last about eight weeks.

The president of the directorate of the National Party addressed the militants and said: “We ask you to get involved, to go through all your relationships to convince us to maintain this law.” Sanguinetti stressed, in the same sense, that the discussion on the LUC should be a call “to citizen awareness and reflection” and ratified Iturralde’s request, saying that there should be dialogue beyond political flags.

“This is not a battle between parties,” stressed the Colorado leader, while Manini Ríos warned that if the people “lend themselves and are functional” to the “game” of the opposition, partially repealing the articles, the one who will be harmed will be “their own people”.

Beyond the LU

With the view that the referendum is, in reality, a plebiscite due to the actions of the ruling party in power, the political leaders also defended the law that, in many cases, transcended the same articles and alluded directly to the management of the Lacalle Pou administration in general terms.

Sanguinetti stressed that the government is in a position to “show results” and referred to the management of the pandemic as one of the high points of the administration. “He rose to the occasion”, said the former president who immediately regretted the “very great opposition” he had to face, alluding to the FA.

In turn, Minister Mieres pointed out: “What matters beyond the specific text of the law is what we have done in almost two years of government.” The leader of the Independent Party pointed to economic aspects, employment levels that have recovered, the reduction of poverty and the management of the health crisis – which he said the government “saved with flying colors” – as highlights of the management.

Many of the arguments that the official leaders have been exposing to defend the law were also mentioned. In particular, they insisted that in the year and a half since the enactment of the LUC, the “has only brought solutions” contrary to “foreshadows” and “negative results” which, they stressed, were predicted from the opposition.

They added that the law grants “rights” and “freedoms” —also in line with what has been pointed out in the first days of the campaign—, and they highlighted several topics of the law, in particular the articles referring to education, adoption regime, work and public security, the latter as one of the battle horses that the ruling party signs up to defend the law.

Diego Battiste

Representatives of the five parties of the governing coalition were present.

“The balance we make of the law is very positive,” said Sanguinetti, adding that “in the worst case” it takes “some more time” to draw conclusions about the negative effects of the law. Manini Ríos said that he feels “the duty that on March 27 no one votes confused”, while Iturralde defended the LUC as “a great instrument” for the country.

The role of the executive branch

The press conference was not attended by members of the Executive Branch, except for Mieres and the Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber, who was present in the room and was directly alluded to by the Colorado leader when the former president referred to the good safety results.

Diego Battiste

The press conference was attended by legislators, hierarchs and party leaders.

On Saturday, the Colorado deputy Gustavo Zubía announced via Twitter that he would not attend the instance that took place this Monday in the José Artigas building, upset with “the hegemony of the Executive Power” in the “conduct and decisions” of the campaign for the referendum. “It’s a coalition,” insisted the legislator.

Consulted by the press about manifestations of these characteristics, party leaders toned down the discussion. Sanguinetti said that in the Colorado Party they feel “fundamental part of the law-making process” and he threw the darts against the Commission for the Yes, which according to the former president is “throwing phrases on the fly.” In this sense, the Colorado secretary general called for “serious discussion and reflection.”

Manini Ríos stressed, for his part, that in Cabildo Abierto “there is no objection” about how the campaign is being carried out by March 27. The leader of the party that emerged in 2019 said that, despite the emphasis of the communities, the arguments in defense of the LUC “are the same” and have “the same approach.”

wednesday also picked up the glove and expressed that the “Different opinions on how to approach the campaign” are “welcome”, while the leader of the National Party, Pablo Iturralde, stressed that although the president is Lacalle Pou, the government is coalition.