Uruguay elects Yamandu Orsi as its president

Left-wing candidate Yamandu Orsi was elected president of Uruguay, official results showed, as he prevailed over centre-right rival Alvaro Delgado in a tightly-contested election.

With 94.4 percent of ballots counted, Orsi won 1,123,420 votes compared to Delgado's 1,042,001, the country's Electoral Court said.

Delgado has conceded defeat in the closely-fought poll that saw voters turn away from five years of conservative rule.

"Today the Uruguayans have defined who will hold the presidency of the republic. And I want to send here, with all these actors of the coalition, a big hug and a greeting to Yamandu Orsi," Delgado said in a speech surrounded by his supporters.

Orsi, 57, a former history teacher and two-time mayor from a working-class background, is widely seen as an heir to iconic former President Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former Marxist guerilla.

“He was born from ordinary workers," Mujica said in a closing campaign ad for Orsi. “He represents, precisely, the average type of what Uruguay is.”

Promising to forge a “new left” in Uruguay, Orsi has proposed tax incentives to lure investment and industrial policy to boost Uruguay’s critical agricultural sector.

He has also floated social security reforms that would buck the demographic trend in lowering the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay's unions.