URUGUAYANS will vote in a referendum on Sunday to either accept or decline 137 articles of a legislative package promulgated by Congress during the first two months of President Luis Lacalle Pou’s right-wing administration.

The Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) contains a number of measures strongly disputed by sections of the opposition, trade unions, human rights groups and other civil society organisations.

They include restrictions on the right to strike, greater police powers, tougher jail sentences for adolescents, the creation of a new category of “criminal appearance” and the enablement of “express evictions” in certain circumstances.

Uruguayan law states that the president can send bills to Congress for “urgent consideration.”

However, if 25 per cent of registered voters sign a petition to dispute a law within one year of its promulgation, a referendum must be held to determine its fate.

Since the fall of Uruguay’s military dictatorship and the return of constitutional rule in 1985, there have been 13 “urgent” Bills, nine of which were approved and four refused, but only three of these were multiarticle instruments of the type proposed by Mr Lacalle Pou. 

His LUC contains no fewer than 475 articles, covering the areas of security, health, education and energy as well as employment rights.

The clauses relating to industrial disputes declare that pickets in either public or private places who “affect the circulation of people, goods or services” are acting illegally.

That and other anti-worker measures ensured that national trade union confederatio, the PIT-CNT was at the forefront of the drive to gather the 671,544 signatures needed to trigger the referendum. 

Despite the difficulties arising from Covid-related restrictions on gatherings in public places, the target was comfortably achieved.

Sunday’s referendum will be seen as a barometer of public opinion in the sharply divided Latin American republic.

Mr Lacalle Pou took office in March 2020 after winning election by a mere 1.26 per cent of the votes cast, putting an end to 15 years of progressive government by the Broad Front.

If the president loses the vote, the constitutional position is unclear, but the legitimacy of his neoliberal administration will undoubtedly suffer a severe blow.

Uruguay may be the second-smallest country in South America after Surinam, but the outcome of the vote is being watched closely across the region.