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.

Uruguay's new president-elect Yamandu Orsi, whose political ambitions were galvanized by his experience growing up in a dictatorship, was the pollsters' narrow favorite to win the second round of the South American nation's presidential election on Sunday for the center-left.

The left-wing Broad Front candidate emerged victorious in a tight race against governing-party candidate Alvaro Delgado.