Guatemalan general election, 2015

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Guatemalan presidential election, 2015
Guatemala
2011 ←
6 September 2015
25 October 2015
→ 2019

 
Nominee Jimmy Morales Sandra Torres
Party FCN UNE

Incumbent President

Alejandro Maldonado (acting)

Coat of arms of Guatemala.svg
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General elections were held in Guatemala on 6 September 2015 to elect the President and Vice President, all 158 Congress deputies, all 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, and mayors and councils for all 338 municipalities in the country. Since no presidential candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off will happen on 25 October.

All positions will be elected for a four-year period.

Background[edit]

The Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) called for general elections officially on 2 May 2015.

Ahead of the election, the La Linea corruption case involving high-ranking officials of the outgoing administration, including President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti, was made public by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. Baldetti resigned in May and was arrested on fraud charges in August. More than a dozen ministers and deputy ministers as well as a number of government officials had to resign too. Less than a week before the election, President Pérez was also stripped of his immunity, resigned and was arrested. Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre acts as head of state until a new president is sworn into office. The scandal has diminished many Guatemalans trust in the political elite even further. Some of the participants of mass protests against corruption demanded a postponement of the election due to the crisis and claims of irregularities.[1][2]

Electoral system[edit]

The President of Guatemala is elected using the two-round system. The 158 members of Congress are elected by two methods; 31 members are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. The other 127 seats are elected in 22 multi-member constituencies aligned with the departments.[3]

Around 7.5 million people registered for the elections. Members of the armed forces (Air Force, Army, and Navy), people in prison, and Guatemalans living abroad were not allowed to vote.[4]

Campaign[edit]

LIDER party campaign posters

In the buildup to the elections the Patriotic Party (PP) and Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) were suspended due to repeated offences. However, all parties were reinstated before elections were called.[5][6]

Possible Belize referendum[edit]

In May 2015, Belize allowed Guatemala to proceed with a referendum asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to definitively rule on Guatemala's longstanding territorial dispute against Belize although Belize by its own admission is not ready for such a vote. A previous treaty between the two countries stipulated that any such vote must be held simultaneously. Guatemala was initially expected to hold its referendum on the issue during its second round of presidential elections in October 2015, but it is unclear if it will do so.[7] Belize has yet to announce its vote on the matter.[8]

During his campaign leading first-round candidate Jimmy Morales made statements strongly in support of Guatemala's territorial claim to Belize, saying, "Something is happening right now, we are about to lose Belize. We have not lost it yet."[7]

President[edit]

The 14 registered candidates were as follows:[9]

Opinion polls[edit]

A poll released on 3 September gave Morales 25% of the vote, compared to 22.9% for Manuel Baldizon and 18.4% for Sandra Torres[11]

Results[edit]

President[edit]

Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Jimmy Morales National Convergence Front 1,166,700 23.85
Sandra Torres National Unity of Hope 966,683 19.76
Manuel Baldizón Renewed Democratic Liberty 961,160 19.65
Alejandro Giammattei Fuerza 315,747 6.45
Zury Ríos Vision with Values 288,402 5.90
Lizardo Sosa Todos 260,769 5.33
Mario David García Patriotic Party 226,316 4.63
Roberto González Díaz-Durán CREOUnionist Party 168,480 3.44
Mario Estrada National Change Union 168,386 3.44
Juan Guillermo Gutiérrez National Advancement Party 151,643 3.10
Miguel Ángel Sandoval WinaqURNG–MAIZ 103,154 2.11
José Ángel López Encounter for Guatemala 44,360 0.91
Luis Fernando Pérez Institutional Republican Party 41,969 0.86
Aníbal García New Republic Movement 28,426 0.58
Invalid/blank votes 495,902 9.21
Total 5,388,107 100
Registered voters/turnout 7,556,873 71.24
Source: TSE (99.07% of votes counted)

Congress[edit]

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Renewed Democratic Liberty 884,750 19.10 44 +30
National Unity of Hope 687,245 14.83 36 −12
Todos 451,506 9.75 18 New
Patriotic Party 436,754 9.43 17 −39
National Convergence Front 405,742 8.76 11 +11
Encuentro por Guatemala 289,522 6.25 7
CREOUnionist Party 263,366 5.68 5 −8
National Change Union 251,160 5.42 6 −8
WinaqURNG–MAIZ 199,754 4.31 3 +2
Convergence 178,165 3.85 3 New
Vision with Values 169,784 3.66 3
National Advancement Party 158,533 3.42 3 +1
Fuerza 95,834 2.07 2 New
Institutional Republican Party 57,948 1.25 0 −1
New Republic Movement 41,731 0.90 0 New
Reform Movement 36,732 0.79 0 New
Heart New Nation 24,238 0.56 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 737,339 13.73
Total 5,370,103 100 158 0
Registered voters/turnout 7,556,873 71.06
Source: TSE (98.76% of votes counted), Seats according to elPeriodico

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jo Tuckman (27 August 2015). "Guatemalan president faces growing threat of impeachment amid scandal". The Guardian. 
  2. ^ Fernando del Rincón; Rafael Romo (7 September 2015). "Guatemala election: Millions vote, but runoff widely expected". CNN. 
  3. ^ Electoral system IPU
  4. ^ "Órgano electoral da luz verde a comicios generales". s21.com.gt. Retrieved 7 September 2015. 
  5. ^ Flor de María Ortiz. "2015 electoral season already started" (in Spanish). Guatemala. Retrieved 13 August 2013. 
  6. ^ http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20141221/pais/6476/Partidos-suspendidos-son-multados--otra-vez-por-campaña-anticipada.htm
  7. ^ a b Trujillo, Renee. "Presidential Candidate for Guatemala Says Belize Can Still Be Fought For", LOVE FM, 9 September 2015 (accessed 28 September 2015)
  8. ^ Ramos, Adele. "Belize and Guatemala to amend ICJ compromis", Amandala, 12 May 2015. (accessed 14 May 2015)
  9. ^ "Candidatos Presidenciales 2015 Guatemala". guatemalaelecciones.com. Retrieved 6 September 2015. 
  10. ^ Louisa Reynolds (10 June 2015). "In Guatemala, anti-establishment presidential candidate benefits from corruption scandals". The Tico Times. 
  11. ^ France 24 news report, Sunday 6 September.

External links[edit]