2023 Guatemalan General Election

General elections were held in Guatemala on 25 June 2023 to elect the president and vice president, all 160 seats of the Congress, all 20 members of the Central American Parliament, and mayors and councils for all 340 municipalities in the country. Incumbent president Alejandro Giammattei was constitutionally prohibited from running for a second four-year term. As no presidential candidate obtained over 50% of the vote, a second round was scheduled between the top two finishers on 20 August.

The official count of the general election by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal indicated that Sandra Torres from National Unity of Hope and Bernardo Arévalo from Semilla would contest the second round. However, the certification of the result by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal was delayed after the Constitutional Court of Guatemala granted an injunction to 10 parties that challenged the result. The court wants to compare the tallies in the electoral system with the tallies from the polling places. Due to the injunction, the results of the races for president, vice president, all of the seats in Congress and hundreds of local elections remain unofficial. The Electoral Observation Mission in Guatemala, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union asked the court to respect the electoral results, said that the results matched their observations and denied any accusations of electoral fraud.

The Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal correctly carried out what was requested by the Constitutional Court and rejected the legal recourse requested by the nine parties.

On 12 July, the Public Ministry announced that at their request a court had suspended Semilla's legal personality for alleged cases of false signatures to establish the party. However, Article 92 of the Electoral and Political Parties Law establishes that "A party may not be suspended after an election has been called and until it has been held". Previously, member of Congress Samuel Pérez Álvarez of Semilla had announced the possibility of attempting a legal "maneuver" to dissolve the party and thus avoid Arévalo's participation in a second round. The actions of the Public Ministry were widely condemned by the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and various governments.

On 13 July, the Constitutional Court, the highest court for constitutional law, reversed the suspension paving the way for the second round of the presidential election to proceed.

Background

In July 2021, Attorney General María Consuelo Porras dismissed the head of the special prosecutor's office against impunity, Juan Francisco Sandoval. Sandoval left the country shortly afterwards to 'protect islife and integrity'. The Attorney General subsequently increased investigations on judges, lawyers and prosecutors linked to the fight against corruption; several former investigators of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity (FECI) and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) were arrested in 2022 and others forced into exile or else continually harassed. Among the exiled judges are Miguel Ángel Gálvez (known for handling the La Línea corruption case) and Erika Aifán (awarded with the International Women of Courage Award in 2021). In September 2021, the United States Department of State announced that it had added Porras to a list of "undemocratic and corrupt" officials. According to the US State Department, Porras "actively undermined" the corruption investigations conducted by Sandoval and his team. Among those sanctioned by the United States are also the Secretary General of the Public Ministry Ángel Pineda and the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity and Porras' right-hand man, Rafael Curruchiche.

At the end of July 2022, the police arrested journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of the daily '' El Periódico'', and searched the newspaper's headquarters, which had accused President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras of corruption. Some journalists also went into exile after the Public Ministry began investigations against them. During the trial of José Rubén Zamora in 2023, a judge asked to initiate an investigation against nine journalists. In November 2022, Amnesty International declared Virginia Laparra a " prisoner of conscience". Laparra was one of the jailed anti-corruption prosecutors who was part of Juan Francisco Sandoval's team.

The United Nations and the European Union condemned the investigations of anti-corruption prosecutors in Guatemala and expressed that these procedures "weaken" the rule of law. The International Federation for Human Rights, the World Organisation Against Torture and other NGOs warn in 2022 about the "strengthening of authoritarian rule" in Guatemala and declare that the country "experiencing an alarming phenomenon of capture and control of public institutions by economic and political elites".

A sharp increase in violent crime and a punishingly high cost of living have made Giammattei deeply unpopular. In January 2022, halfway through his term, Giammattei had a 27% approval rating according to a CID Gallup poll, one of the lowest among the continent's presidents. In 2023, only 2.9% of respondents rate the Giammattei administration as good. Emigration to the United States increased sharply under his presidency.

Registration of candidates

The registration of candidates for the elections has also been clouded by criticism for the "unclear" arguments used by the Registry of Citizens and the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The ticket of Movement for the Liberation of Peoples was not registered due to "legal problems" of the vice-presidential candidate Jordán Rodas; while Roberto Arzú's candidacy was revoked for allegedly carrying out "anticipated campaigning". Presidential candidate Edmond Mulet was denounced by the Public Ministry for three consecutive days. The first complaint he received was for having spoken out against the investigation of the nine journalists during the Zamora trial, while the other two were for allegedly engaging in "anticipated campaigning" for which reason Mulet's participation is uncertain. The Supreme Court of Justice rejected the challenge, however, on 11 May, the Public Ministry challenged Mulet's candidacy before the Constitutional Court.

On 21 March 2023, the Electoral Tribunal announced that it had rejected the candidacy of the party Commitment, Renewal and Order due to "legal problems" of presidential candidate Francisco Arredondo. The political party filed a legal appeal to reverse the decision of the electoral court, finally, the magistrates accepted the appeal and registered Arredondo as a presidential candidate. The candidacies presented by the Opportunities and Development Party were annulled for not correctly carrying out their nomination assemblies.

Cabal and the URNG–Winaq coalition challenged the candidacy of Zury Ríos before the Registry of Citizens, stating that the Constitution prevented her from running for the presidency because she is the daughter of former president Efraín Ríos Montt who came to power through a coup. Although the appeals were dismissed, Cabal also challenged before the Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court but they were rejected and Ríos's candidacy remained firm.

Todos challenged the candidacy of Sandra Torres before the Registry of Citizens, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court, affirming that Romeo Guerra, Torres's nominee for vice president, had a constitutional impediment, since the Constitution prevents ministers of worship to running for President and Vice President and Guerra was an evangelical pastor before becoming Torres's running mate. The process was rejected by the Electoral Registry and the Supreme Court of Justice, while the Constitutional Court. Finally, the Constitutional Court rejected the legal challenge and Torres's candidacy was maintained.

In May 2023, Change challenged the candidacy of Carlos Pineda before the Supreme Court of Justice. The legal resource affirms that there are "irregularities" in the nomination assemblies of Citizen Prosperity. On 19 May, a judge accepted the legal appeal presented, so Carlos Pineda's candidacy was annulled, along with 218 other candidates for deputies and mayors from Citizen Prosperity. On June 9, a court accepted a legal appeal filed by the Secretary-General of Citizen Prosperity Lilian Piedad García and ordered the registration of lists for candidates for deputies in eleven departments, however, the presidential ticket, the candidates for deputies by National List, the Central District, the Central American Parliament and the other eleven departments, and mayoral candidates remained out of contention. On 11 June, the Constitutional Court revoked the legal recourse granted to the party and ordered the Public Ministry to investigate the court that issued the recourse.

The opposition party Semilla has alleged "irregularities" in a case against it for allegedly forging the signature of a party affiliate. The file was transferred from the Electoral Crimes Prosecutor's Office to the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity led by Curruchiche. Presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo mentioned that these actions put the party's electoral participation at risk. Deputy Samuel Pérez Álvarez alleged "partiality" on the part of the judicial authorities. He also indicated that in 2015, the Registry of Citizens detected alleged anomalies in almost signatures of members of the Progressive Liberator Party (now Valor) and the process has not advanced.

The opposition party Will, Opportunity and Solidarity led by presidential candidate Manuel Villacorta was denounced for allegedly falsifying affiliate signatures in May 2023. Villacorta has previously denounced "systematic attacks" to curb his party's participation.

Campaign

The Latinobarómetro 2020 indicates that Guatemala has one of the lowest levels of trust and support for democracy in the region: only 37% of citizens considered democracy to be preferable to any other form of government, and 65% were not satisfied with how it operated in Guatemala. In terms of political rights, only 9% of Guatemalans considered that their right to participate in political life is fully guaranteed. The atmosphere of optimism for change that had been present for the elections in 2015 had faded by 2020.

Of the 4.5 million registered citizens aged between 18 and 30, only 2.6 million were on the electoral roll and eligible to vote in 2023.

A substantial number of candidates ran a right-wing campaign, highlighting their attachment to religious values and the defence of private property, as well as their opposition to the legalisation of abortion. In particular, the security policies of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele were held up as an example to follow. The evangelical churches continue to have a major influence on political life, having participated in the selection of Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges, among other things. During the final debate of the campaign, the discussions focused in particular on gay marriage, while the issue of poverty, which affects at least 54% of the population, was ignored. On the contrary, "the discourse and ideas of the left have disappeared from the debate", due to the elimination of the most popular left-wing candidates by the electoral authorities.

The three favourites in the election (Ríos, Torres, and Mulet) made extensive use of clientelist practices. People who came to their meetings were offered various gifts, even a sum of money in the case of Ríos. Political party activists circulate among the ranks, taking down the names and addresses of those present as "primary beneficiaries" in the event of their candidate's victory. Giving in exchange for voting is common practice in Guatemalan elections and is not punished.

After proceeding to the run-off, Torres focused on winning over conservative voters particularly supporters of Ríos. Torres expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage and instead promoted family values. She criticized the Semilla as being a "socialist" and "communist" party. She accused her second round opponent, Arevalo, of being a puppet of both former Attorney General of Guatemala Thelma Aldana and Colombian defense minister Iván Velásquez. Aldana and Velásquez together had investigated corruption cases in Guatemala for the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. Political analyst Luis Mack noted that Torres's attacks against Arevalo was an appeal to religious conservatives and the far-right, both of which opposed anti-corruption efforts and foreign interference in Guatemala. Torres also accused Arevalo of wanting to expropriate private property and end religious freedom in favor of an " LGBT ideology".

Fraud allegations

Some political parties and their presidential candidates such as Amílcar Rivera ( Victory), Arévalo (Semilla) and Manuel Villacorta (Will, Opportunity and Solidarity) have openly expressed the possibility of electoral fraud. Adding to these denunciations were the excluded presidential candidates Thelma Cabrera ( Movement for the Liberation of Peoples), Roberto Arzú ( Podemos) and Pineda (Citizen Prosperity), the latter of whom saw a steep rise in opinion polls in April 2023, placing him within the top three finishers.

Journalist Andrés Oppenheimer compared the electoral fraud accusations in Guatemala to Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election.

Electoral system

President

The President of Guatemala is elected using the two-round system.

Congress

The 160 members of Congress are elected by two methods; 130 are elected from 22 multi-member constituencies based on the departments, with the remaining 31 elected from a single nationwide constituency. Seats are elected using closed list proportional representation, with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method.Congress of the Republic
IFES

Presidential candidates

Rejected

Declined

Parties

The following political parties did not run for a presidential ticket, but did run candidates for deputies and mayors.
* Guatemalan People's Party (PPG)
* National Advancement Party (PAN)

Individuals

* Alfonso Alonso, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources (2018–2020) ( National Convergence Front)
* Marcos Antil, immigrant rights activist (Will, Opportunity and Solidarity)
* Manuel Baldizón, member of Congress (2004–2008) ( Change) (''running for re-election'')
* Neto Bran, Mayor of Mixco (2016–present) (Guatemalan People's Party) (''running for re-election'')
* Juan Carlos Eggenberger, businessman (''Together'') (''running for Mayor of Guatemala City for National Advancement Party'')
* Javier Hernández, member of Congress (2016–present) ( National Convergence Front) (''running for re-election'')
* Antonio Malouf, Minister of Economy (2020–2022) (Humanist Party of Guatemala/ Citizen Prosperity)
* Jordán Rodas, Ombudsman (2017–2022) ( Semilla–Winaq– URNG) (''running for Vice President for Movement for the Liberation of Peoples'')

Congress

Opinion polls

Results

President

No presidential candidate obtained more than 50% of the vote in the first round, meaning a second round was required. In an upset, Bernardo Arévalo finished in second place, qualifying for the runoff along with one of the favorites to win, former First Lady and 2015 and 2019 presidential runner-up Sandra Torres. Zury Ríos and Edmond Mulet, two other candidates that ranked near the top of opinion polls, finished in 6th and 5th place, respectively.

Congress

Central American Parliament

Mayors

See also

* List of elections in 2023

Notes

References

External links

Tribunal Supremo Electoral

{{Guatemalan elections

June 2023 events in North America
General
Elections in Guatemala
Guatemala