Uruguay’s leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, became the country's new president in a tight runoff election that ousted the conservative governing coalition.

The result in Montevideo follows a trend of victories for anti-incumbency candidates in Latin America, and a regional leftward turn.

Leftist candidate Yamandú Orsi has won Uruguay's presidency in a closely contested runoff election. Orsi's win ushers in a return of the Broad Front, the party that governed for 15 consecutive years until the 2019 election of center-right National Party President Luis Lacalle Pou.

By Lucinda Elliott and Sarah Morland MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) -Center-left opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi secured victory in Uruguay's presidential election, official results showed on Sunday, with 99% of votes tallied,

The candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed for the past five years conceded defeat after a tight runoff, as Uruguay joined others around the world in rebuking the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Uruguayans are returning to the polls for a second round of voting to choose their next president. In Sunday's election, the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.

Uruguay's leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, claimed victory in a tight presidential runoff Sunday, ousting the conservative governing coalition and making the South American nation the latest to rebuke the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Mr. Delgado’s concession signaled an end to the short stint of the right-leaning government in Uruguay that in 2020, when President Luis Lacalle Pou took office, ended 15 years of government by the Broad Front. During that period, the Broad Front oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana.