Jose Mujica won the runoff election to become Uruguay's president, and has been congratulated by the incumbent, Tabare Vazquez.
Although the two are both members of the Broad Front coalition, the current president opposed the former Marxist guerilla fighter, better known as Pepe, in the party's primary, supporting Danilo Astori. The former finance minister became Mujica's running mate and will be the key economic voice in the new government.
Mujica won about 52% of the vote in Sunday's election, with former president Luis Alberto Lacalle getting 44%. The victory had been expected, as the president-elect got 48% in the first round in October, against 29% for Lacalle, who conceded on Sunday within a couple of hours of polls closing.
The Uruguayan president is elected for a single five-year term, but can run again after spending a term out of office.
About 90% of the almost 2.6 million eligible voters cast ballots. Polling took place in a calm atmosphere, with mass gatherings and the sale of alcohol banned after the campaign ended on Thursday, but violations were reported at some of the 6,869 polling stations.
Mujica served as minister of agriculture and fisheries under Vasquez and despite his revolutionary past, which included almost 15 years in prison during the dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s, has vowed to continue his predecessor's moderate policies. Mujica helped found the Tupamaro movement, which was defeated in 1973.
The 74-year-old will become Uruguay's oldest president when he takes office on March 1, 2010.
BUENOS AIRES, November 30 (RIA Novosti)
