Uruguayan President Mujica Expects Vazquez to Win Presidential Elections

UruguayanPresident Jose Mujica said that Tabaré Vázquez, candidate of his ruling Broad Front (FA) party will go on to win the upcoming elections, he said on Thursday.

"I have the intimate conviction that the FA will win the election and not only that, but also obtain the parliamentary majority," he said in remarks the Uruguayan newspaper, The Republic.

"I'm very confident," he reiterated. 

The president later explained that his place after the elections will be in Parliament "helping the next President" and helping to negotiate with the various sectors of his party.  Presidents in Uruguay are only allowed to serve one five year term, so Mujica is barred from running again, but is allowed to run in the next election.

He added that he wants to generate a lot of dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.  Mujica noted that he wants to assist the internal negotiation mechanisms of the party.

He described the FA as a "free thinking" political force and one of the keys to their identity is "the ability to always maintain unity" with a permanent exchange of views and ideas among all sectors.

Mujica also criticized the opposition saying they are creating "issues."

Recent polls show that the election on October 26 will go to a runoff, scheduled for November 30 between leftist Frente Amplio leader, Tabaré Vazquez and his closest rival, Lacalle Pou, son of former president Lacalle (1990-1995), from the conservative National Party.

Under the Uruguayan electoral system, if none of the candidates wins over 50 percent of the votes a second election between the two most popular candidates is held.