(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The Progressive Encounter - Broad Front (EP-FA) is gaining more public backing in Uruguay, according to a poll by Factum. 46 per cent of respondents would vote for the governing coalition of left-leaning parties in the next legislative election, up four points since March.

The conservative National Party-Whites (PN-B) is second with 34 per cent, followed by the Red Party (PC) with nine per cent, and the Independent Party (PI) with one per cent.

Tabaré Vázquez—nominee for the EP-FA—won the October 2004 election with 50.45 per cent of the vote, becoming the first Uruguayan president to represent a political organization other than the PC and the PN-B.

The president officially took over in March 2005, and began his government with majorities in the Chamber of Deputies—with 52 lawmakers in the 99-seat lower house—and the Chamber of Senators—with 18 legislators in the 31-seat upper house.

On Jul. 1, the presidents of countries that are members of Mercosur—a commerce alliance including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela—issued a statement condemning new immigration regulations in the European Union (EU) that, according to them, will affect Latin Americans living there. The new provisions will allow authorities to detain illegal immigrants for up to 18 months prior to expulsion.

Vázquez said Latin American people "are particularly hurt by the fact that they try to discriminate against us and fail to respect the human rights of Latin Americans who had to go and look for other lands like (the Europeans’) grandparents did at other times."

Polling Data

If the presidential and parliamentary elections took place this Sunday, which party would you vote for?

Source: Factum
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 950 Uruguayan adults, conducted in June 2008. Margin of error is 3.3 per cent.

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