LAST ELECTIONS
Also available:
Archive of past election results for this chamber
In 2003, the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) became the largest party in the Congress with 42 seats of the 158 seats. The Grand National Alliance (GANA) took 41 seats and the centre-left National Unity of Hope (UNE) 31. The GANAs leader, Mr. Óscar Berger, defeated Mr. Álvaro Colom (UNE) in the run-off presidential elections.
Fourteen of the 15 political parties that participated in the 2007 parliamentary elections also endorsed presidential candidates.
Mr. Colom again represented the UNE. Mr. Otto Pérez Molina - a former head of military intelligence during Guatemalas 1960-1996 Civil War - was the candidate of the right-wing conservative Patriotic Party (PP). In 2003, the PP had been part of the Grand National Alliance (GANA), which endorsed the director of Guatemala's prison system, Mr. Alejandro Giammattei, as its presidential candidate in 2007. The Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) chose the outgoing Speaker of Congress, General Efraín Ríos Montt, as its presidential candidate. Mr. Ríos Montt later withdrew his presidential candidature but still led the FRG into the parliamentary elections.
As in 2003, poverty and crime remained main issues in the 2007 elections. Although President Berger had managed to stabilize the countrys economy, the gap between the rich and the poor remained a major underlying problem. Guatemala also has the highest murder rate in Latin America.
About a half of Guatemalas population are indigenous Maya Indian (Mayan) people. In the 2007 elections, the Encounter for Guatemala (EG) endorsed Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Mayan activist, Ms. Rigoberta Menchú, as its presidential candidate. In 1999, she had brought a petition to try General Ríos Montt in a Spanish tribunal for crimes against humanity, accusing him of giving orders to carry out acts of genocide in 1981 and 1982.
Mr. Colom (UNE), a former deputy minister of the economy, argued that crime was caused by Guatemalas deep social problems, including poverty, marginalization, and discrimination. He pledged to introduce a comprehensive "human solidarity programme" to deal with crime and achieve security in the country. He promised to reform the security forces and the judicial system, while creating jobs and providing a social programme for the poor.
Mr. Molina (PP) promised to increase the police force by 50 per cent, to use the army to clamp down on criminals, and to re-introduce the death penalty. Mr. Giammattei (GANA) vowed to introduce tougher regulations to deal with crime.
At least 50 people were killed during the election campaign, making the poll the bloodiest since the end of the Civil War. Victims included the 14 year old daughter of a UNE parliamentary candidate, and an assistant to the UNE's vice-presidential candidate. Some of the killings were reportedly caused by drug gangs who wished to see candidates of their choice accede to political office. The Organization of American States (OAS) urged the government to launch an investigation into the killings.
Approximately 60.46 per cent of the countrys 5.9 million registered voters turned out at the polls. A total of 34,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed on polling day.
The Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas declared that the elections themselves had been held in an orderly manner.
The final results gave 51 seats to the UNE. The GANA and the PP took 35 and 31 seats respectively, while the FRG took only 14, losing 28. Seven other parties won fewer than ten seats each. In all, 19 women were elected.
In the presidential elections, none of the candidates won the required 50 per cent of the votes to be elected in the first round. The run-off elections were held between Mr. Colom (UNE) and Mr. Molina (PP) on 4 November. Mr. Colom was elected with over 58 per cent of the votes.
On 14 January 2008, Mr. Colom was officially sworn in, becoming the first leftist president since the end of the Civil War.
On the same day, the newly-elected Congress held its first session and elected Mr. Arturo Eduardo Meyer Maldonado (UNE) as its new Speaker.
| Round no 1 (9 September 2007): Election results | ||||
| Number of registered electors | 5'990'029 | |||
| Voters | 3'621'852 (60.46%) | |||
| Blank or invalid ballot papers | 341'243 | |||
| Valid votes | 3'280'609 | |||
| Round no 1: Distribution of votes | ||||||||||
| Political Group | Candidates | Votes | % | |||||||
| National Unity for Hope Party (UNE) | 926'244 | 28.23 | ||||||||
| Great National Alliance (GANA) | 565'270 | 17.23 | ||||||||
| Patriotic Party (PP) | 771'175 | 23.51 | ||||||||
| Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) | 239'208 | 7.29 | ||||||||
| Unionist Party (PU) | 95'743 | 2.92 | ||||||||
| Center of Social Action (CASA) | 244'448 | 7.45 | ||||||||
| Nationalist Change Union (UCN) | 103'603 | 3.16 | ||||||||
| Encounter for Guatemala (EG) | 101'316 | 3.09 | ||||||||
| National Advancement Party (PAN) | 83'826 | 2.56 | ||||||||
| Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (URNG) | 70'080 | 2.14 | ||||||||
| Democratic Union (UD) | ||||||||||
| Round no 1: Distribution of seats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political Group | Total | Number of women | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Unity for Hope Party (UNE) | 51 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Great National Alliance (GANA) | 35 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Patriotic Party (PP) | 31 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) | 14 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unionist Party (PU) | 7 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Center of Social Action (CASA) | 5 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationalist Change Union (UCN) | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Encounter for Guatemala (EG) | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Advancement Party (PAN) | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (URNG) | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Democratic Union (UD) | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Congress of the Republic (17.09.2007)
- http://elecciones2007.tse.org.gt/
- http://www.prensalibre.com/
Also available:
Archive of past election results for this chamber
Choose one of the thematic modules below for further information grouped by category. Alternatively, you can access the full text of the PARLINE data about this parliament (downloading will take longer).
Presidency of the Parliament | Parliamentary Mandate | Specialized Bodies | Full text | Parliamentary Oversight
PARLINE database: new search