Between myths, favoritism, surprise internal elections and novel militancy, the elections begin to color business circles with expectations and anecdotes.
Convened in a charming meeting room, in one of the classic high-end hotels in the Montevideo Centeran important financial institution summoned one of the leading political scientists in Uruguay, to talk with businessmen about the political situation. The election year generates a lot of expectations.
While the fresh orange juice, some lemonade and the classic coffees with croissants were consumed at the tables, the professional began the talk by saying that this electoral campaign is already beginning to demolish some myths. “The first of them is him favoritism of the Broad Front -began-. For many months, since last year, it was heard that the FA was the favorite for this election and some surveys actually showed it with a high level of support, clearly better than 2019,” he stated. “And surely the Front votes better than in 2019, but that does not necessarily mean that it will win the election. In fact, if I had to ‘play’ some chips I would say that today the favorite is the officialdom”, he sentenced.
In it entrepreneurship -it is known- there is a greater affinity to the current ruling party and after hearing this, several faces looked relieved and even smiling, although not totally convinced. “The issue,” the expert continued, “is that, in general, there is an atmosphere of certain accordance with the general situation in the country, after the complications of the pandemic. Besides Uruguay It really looks very good in the regional comparison, especially with Argentina, and people value that,” he remarked.
“Another myth that is clearly falling in these weeks is the Yamandú Orsi’s favoritism inside the Broad Front. The latest polls show the internal situation of the Front really very even and with Cosse improving; I have elements to think that Carolina Cosse “he can win the internal election on the left,” he asserted. There the faces changed and there were rumors, because – it is also known – the business community within the Front clearly prefers Orsi, if they give him the choice. “How do you explain this promotion of Cosse?” asked a logistics businessman, who could not contain his anxiety until the questions were asked. “It may seem difficult to accept, but it is simple: those who vote in the internal elections are the ‘hard’ adherents, the most faithful within the parties; those who are convinced of which party they are going to vote for – the expert analyzed -; and in the Frente Amplio the voters are angry, dissatisfied and want to confront the government. And the one who is expressing this clearly is Carolina Cosse, who recognizes almost nothing to the government,” he explained. “Meanwhile, Yamandú Orsi opts for a strategy that may be good for October but not so good for the internal one,” he concluded. New rumors were heard, and in the question space some concerned professional asked for a little more insight into these matters and about the rest of the candidates. As breakfast was ending, there were many questions still unanswered.
Plebiscite
The atmosphere of celebration, almost excited, at the headquarters of the PIT-CNT contrasted with some worried faces among legislators from the Frente Amplio, while the signatures arrived at the Parliament. The union confederation more than managed to present the signatures required to convene a plebiscite which – if approved – would substantially modify andUruguay’s social security system. From the ruling party, the news was even welcomed. “Now the field has been clearly marked, who is on one side and who is on the other, to defend the general interest or to stir up ghosts and cuckoos, and take the country to a dead end,” commented a passionate white legislator. to go out on the field to confront.
In the FA they observe that a good part of the main economists of the left – many of them members of the teams of the MEF in the frontist governments – came out almost in unison to reject the PIT-CNT initiative. Even so, the move by the union center puts the Front in a difficult situation. “The ruling party comes out to cross the PIT-CNT and in that discussion it is difficult to be neutral (…). Yamandú has been very clear in pointing out that he does not support the initiative; But from there to criticizing it and campaigning against it, it is very difficult… they are companions,” acknowledges a member of the MPP from the interior, with a long history in politics and knowledgeable about the relationship between the front and the unions. Many think that it is an easy round trip, but nothing could be further from the truth: for those of us in the FA, the union movement is always complex,” she added. In the Communist Party they do not think the same: a veteran leader reaffirmed that – with the success of the PIT-CNT – everyone wins: “this exposes neoliberalism again with the issue of AFAPs (…) it is going to be an intense discussion and I am sure it is going to be progress for us,” he stated convinced, while heading out to the May Day event.
Militancy
“They are great… but they have to be more organic!” exclaimed a nationalist leader with a high position in the government with a worried smile. He alluded to the vigorous and continued participation of a pair of white legislators who are gaining more and more notoriety in recent months, and everything indicates that they will be protagonists of the campaign. “Graciela has slacked off a little, but Sebastián continues to push harder and harder…” The leader referred to Graciela Bianchi and Sebastian da Silva, who are being notorious spokespersons for the ruling party, particularly in its confrontation with the opposition and with the PIT-CNT. Indeed, Bianchi has been more moderate lately, but Da Silva has come down hard on unionism and permanently associates the Frente Amplio with the union center, for which he has already coined the nickname “Fapit”, which is all the rage among white militants (particularly in their group, list 40), but which unnerves the left. “Everything is fine with the active militancy and even aggressive, but sometimes it takes a leading role that leaves even the main leaders in the background (…) everything has a limit, the leader complained, while speaking with close supporters. One of them, with a mischievous smile, took his cell phone and showed him the video of Da Silva, where he asks himself “Where is Leal?”; “Isn’t he cool?” he asked. The leader tried to maintain a critical tone, but he couldn’t help but smile.
Source: Ambito
