The victory of left-wing candidate Tabare Vazquez in Sunday's presidential elections openeda new era in Uruguay's politics.

According to official figures, with 99 percent of the ballots counted by Monday morning, Vazquez had won an outright victory in the first round. The 64-year-old is to become the country's first leftist president.

The left-wing alliance of Encuentro Progresista (EP) and Frente Amplio (FA) has also won a majority in both houses of the National Congress -- 16 out of 30 seats in the Senate, and 52 out of 99 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

The dominance of a left-wing political force in parliament is an unprecedented situation in the past 45 years.

Political experts argue that Vazquez's victory is a natural outcome of the evolution of the coalition.

After their integration in 1971, the EP-FA alliance rapidly developed into a serious opposition force to the governments of traditional parties.

The triumph of Vazquez in Montevideo's mayoralty race in 1989 was a milestone in the country's politics. During his nearly threeterms in the capital with 42 percent of the country's population, the EP-FA won confidence of the Uruguayans little by little, specially among the middle class.

"The weight of the middle class in Uruguay is so large that, even the poor and the rich identify themselves with it," said Uruguayan historian Jose Barran.

The left-wing coalition modified some of its radical positions and successfully formed a more consolidated front.

Widespread discontent among citizens helped drive the country toward left.

Uruguay's recession left one-third of its people below the poverty line and unemployment rate reached 20 percent in2002.

The majority of Uruguayans had been tired of the alternate ruling of only two parties, the National party and Colorado party,and lost confidence in their governance.

Source: Xinhua