(UTV|COLOMBO) – Guatemalans have been to choose a new president, new congress members and new mayors.
Nineteen people were competing to succeed President Jimmy Morales. Two candidates who were tipped as favourites have been barred from running.
The election is not expected to yield an outright winner, as candidates need to win over 50% of the vote.
Gang violence and poverty are the main topics that have dominated campaigning.
Thelma Aldana, the former attorney-general, and Zury Ríos, the daughter of the late military ruler Efraín Ríos Montt, have been barred from running for the presidency. Another candidate was arrested in Miami on suspicion of conspiring to import cocaine to the US.
ere is a look at the candidates and the main issues.
Who’s being elected?
- 8.1 millioneligible voters choose
- 1President and vice-president
- 160Members of Congress
- 340Mayors
- 20Members of the Central American Parliament
Source: Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tibunal
How does it work?
The president is elected by absolute majority for a single four-year term. Under Guatemalan law, current President Jimmy Morales cannot stand for a second term.
If no candidate gets more than 50% in the first round on 16 June, the top two candidates will go through to a second round on 11 August.
Nineteen candidates are competing for the presidency, down from the original 24.
Who are the top candidates?
Sandra Torres, 63, is hoping it will be third time lucky for her. She failed in her two previous attempts to be elected president but the most recent opinion polls put her in the lead.
Ms Torres was married to Álvaro Colom, who governed Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, and who is currently under investigation for alleged fraud.
She divorced him in 2011 in order to bypass a law which banned close relatives of the president from succeeding him. At the time she said that “I’m divorcing my husband but I’m getting married to the people”.
She also said that she had found it “very difficult” to leave her “loving marriage” to Mr Colom.
In the 2011, her candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court but she was allowed to run in 2015. That time, she had enough votes to get her into the second round where she was defeated by Jimmy Morales by a large margin of almost 35 percentage points.
Ms Torres is running for the social-democratic National Unity of Hope party (UNE).
She and her party are under investigation for alleged illegal campaign financing during the last election, which she has denied.
Ms Torres says she will provide “comprehensive solutions like development, fight against poverty and job opportunities” to try to convince Guatemalans to stay in the country rather than migrating to the United States.
The former First Lady has also pledged to deploy troops in Guatemala’s streets to crack down on drug gangs. (BBC)
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