Uruguay: Political campaign intensifies for proposed referendum to repeal law

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan political arena today stepped up its mobilization for a yes or no vote to repeal 135 articles of the Urgent Consideration Law (LUC) in a referendum.

Although the authorization by the Electoral Court for the citizen consultation is still pending, the 800,000 signatures petition count shows a low percentage of annulments, as stated by the Court.

Over the weekend, the AEBU bank workers union gathered over 200 participants for the campaign to discuss in depth the “content of objections and grounds that led us to choose and identify the worst 135 articles in this law.”

According to AEBU’s central counselor Juan Fernández, “the game will be played in the exchange over the reasons that led us to go out to the streets to look for the people’s wishes, in order to reach the referendum and vote yes.”

Union leader of secondary school teachers José Olivera warned that “in fact, the parties which make up the government coalition are developing an important set of activities throughout the country” to keep the almost 500-article law intact.

Pro-government media reported that the Secretary of the Presidency Álvaro Delgado during the week visited coastal departments “to campaign” and in a Partido Nacional event he called for the defense of the challenged legislation.

Likewise, ex-President Julio María Sanguinetti, general secretary of the Partido Colorado, part of the right-wing coalition, said that “we are working on the issue, and we have held some informative meetings with leaders from all over the country.”

According to Gabriel Molina, executive secretary of Pit-CNT trade union, “the government’s triumphant mood has changed since we collected the signatures for the referendum” and for this second stage of the campaign “we will have colleagues who will discuss the different issues, without leaving anything out.”

In this respect, Frente Amplio senator Oscar Andrade emphasized aspects of the law such as the power to evict tenants, limitations on the right to strike, night raids without consent, and loss of autonomy in education.