Mujica wins Uruguayan presidential election: exit polls

Jose Mujica from the ruling Broad Front party has won the presidential run-off election in Uruguay on Sunday, exit polls showed.


Uruguayan presidential candidate for the ruling Broad Front party Jose Mujica (C) casts his vote in Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, during the run-off presidential election, on Nov. 29, 2009. Uruguayans went to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president between left-wing Jose Mujica and his rival Luis Lacalle in a run-off election.(Xinhua/Nicolas Celaya)
Exit polls gave Mujica more than 50 percent of the vote while his rival, former president Luis Alberto Lacalle, trailed with around 45 percent of the vote.

Mujica, 74, was one of the leaders of the Tupamaros urban guerrilla movement in the 1960s and 1970s. His controversial past has pushed away some voters, but he received backing from others thanks to his pledge to continue the current economic policies that feature encouragement to foreign investment, reduced unemployment and enhanced minority rights.

Source: Xinhua