Almost 450,000 valid signatures for pre-referendum against Uruguay’s Lacalle Pou’s flagship law

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan Electoral Court has validated almost 450,000 signatures in support of the referendum against the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC), star project of the government of Luis Lacalle Pou, announced this Tuesday (19) in Montevideo the National Commission for the Yes.

At a press conference to present campaign activities in favor of the vote to abolish 135 articles of the LUC in an almost certain referendum, Sandra Bargas, representative of the Federation of Mutual Aid Cooperatives (FUCVAM), and Milagro Pau, of the PIT-CNT trade union center, offered flattering figures for their cause.

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The Electoral Court had validated up to this Monday 444,855 signatures out of the 497,917 reviewed, which, according to Pau, “means that after reviewing more than half of the signatures presented, almost 800,000, the discard is 8.036%,” which confirms that “the 671,544 valid signatures necessary” for the consultation will be exceeded “very comfortably”.

“Therefore, there will be a referendum,” she added.

Pau explained that this campaign “does not have at its center a dispute between political parties” and that the debate “is about education, housing, public companies, the role of the State, the rights of workers, public liberties, violence, and democracy.”

“The 135 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration represent a structural reform of the Uruguayan economy and society that defines a development model whose characteristics we are already suffering,” she said.

During the conference held in Montevideo, the Commission informed that this Saturday 23rd, at 4 PM local time (19.00 GMT), the Yes campaign will begin, with the celebration of an event with musical performances at the Municipal Velodrome of Montevideo, which will have limited capacity and will maintain sanitary measures against covid-19.

With the delivery of 797,261 signatures last July 8, the organization “Yo Firmo” -integrated by political and social collectives-, took its first step to repeal 135 of the 476 articles of the LUC, approved on July 9, 2020.

Once the signatures have been delivered, the Electoral Court has 150 days to study them and 120 more to set a date for the vote.