Uruguay's long-dominant leftist ruling party is facing defeat in a presidential election run-off on Sunday as the small South American country prepares to swing to the right. 

Opinion polls showed that Luis Lacalle Pou, the 46-year-old leader of the center-right National Party, is likely to win as voters appear set to turn the page on 15 years of leftist rule. 

Lacalle Pou, a senator, trailed the ruling Broad Front candidate Daniel Martinez in last month's first round, but a pact with center-right and right-wing parties following simultaneous legislative elections has given him a majority in Congress as well as a significant lead heading into the run-off. 

"Polls suggest he has a 6-8 point lead, although the result may well tighten," said Robert Wood, Latin America manager for the Economist Intelligence Unit. 

A win for the right would "reflect a trend in the region of voters rejecting the incumbent party over disappointing results." 

The run-off is effectively a referendum on 15 years of rule by the Broad Front – or Frente Amplio – which has won the last three elections. 

"Voters are tired of economic stagnation, high unemployment and rising crime since the end of the commodity supercycle and will look to Mr Lacalle Pou for improvements," Wood told AFP. 

Inflation is running at 7.5 percent and unemployment at nine percent. 

(Cover: Ballot material for Sunday's second round presidential election is being picked up for its further distribution to voting stations, at an office of Uruguay's electoral court, in Montevideo, Uruguay, November 23, 2019. /VCG Photo)