Lacalle Pou’s initiative has come under close scrutiny

When the numbers were known, hundreds of ruling party supporters took to the streets of Montevideo to celebrate, according to Montevideo newspapers El Observador and El País.

The referendum voted to repeal or ratify 135 of the 476 articles of the Urgent Considerations Act (LUC), which was passed in 2020 and led to reforms in several areas, including education, security, labour, public administration and finance.

85% of the more than 2.6 million people who voted were eligible, the Electoral Tribunal said. The Director of Coexistence and Citizens’ Security at the Ministry of the Interior, Santiago Gonzalez, confirmed to Channel 5 TV that there had been no incidents and described the day as “exemplary”.

Previous opinion polls have predicted that consultations with a tight outcome, as well as the initiative’s future, will broadcast or undermine the remainder of the executive branch’s mandate – three years – and will represent at least part of the opposition’s strategy.

The victory of the “No Means” party is, without a doubt, a boost to Lacalle Po, who can be encouraged to promote other central reforms in the Uruguayan state structure.

That is why the five parties that make up the coalition government put their main leaders to play in the election campaign and the president himself got involved, first timidly and then completely, so much so that the “no” campaign ended with a press conference that he himself presided. .

On the one hand yes, the Broad Front – even if the outcome is opposite – still feels good about its ability to demonstrate the formidable strength of a regional presence, a notorious mobilization even in times of epidemic and revitalization that has passed through its operation. Renewal of powers.

Given the complexity of what is being voted on, it was an atypical campaign: the content of dozens of articles had to be explained for a comprehensive law.

For this reason, more than great works, it was significant face-to-face, raising awareness in small encounters, with a large presence in the media and talkative discussions in the areas where it was possible.

The LUC was sanctioned on July 8, 2020 in Congress, with 476 articles, although it entered with 501.

Among other issues, It limits the right to strike, declares picketing in public or private places illegal, sets a “criminal appearance” figure and increases the limit on cash transactions up to $100,000, enabling money laundering and allowing tax evasion according to its critics.

In addition, it eliminates the obligation to primary education and cuts off state jobs in the area, creates a pattern of rapid eviction of rental housing and eschews the cooperative model of home construction, and allows for the closure and/or privatization of strategic areas by the state oil company’s spillover.

Since the restoration of democracy in Uruguay in 1985, only 13 bills have been sent to the legislature with this urgent consideration declared: 9 were approved and 4 rejected, but only 3 of those were in the “comprehensive law” category.

In addition to PIT-CNT and the Broad Front, the Yes Committee brings together the Students’ Federation of the University of Uruguay (FEUU), Feminism Among the Community, Association of Uruguayan Social Workers (ADASU), Intersocials from Salto, Carmelo, Rivera, Soriano, Artigas, Costa de Oro, Tacuarimbo , Paysandu, Trenta y Tres and Fray Bentos; Mothers and Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, Uruguayan Federation of Mutual Assistance Housing Cooperatives (FOCFAM).