Politics of Guatemala - Political Parties and Elections

Political Parties and Elections

Political parties in Guatemala are generally numerous and unstable. No party has won the presidency more than once and in every election period the majority of the parties are small and newly-formed. Even the longer-lived parties, such as the Christian Democrats (DCG) or the URNG, tend to last less than a decade as significant forces in Guatemalan politics.

For other political parties see List of political parties in Guatemala. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Guatemala.
e • d Summary of the 9 September and 4 November 2007 Guatemalan presidential election results
Candidates — Parties 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Álvaro Colom — National Unity of Hope (UNE) 926,244 28.23% 1,449,153 52.82%
Otto Pérez Molina — Patriotic Party (PP) 771,175 23.51% 1,294,645 47.18%
Alejandro Giammattei — Grand National Alliance (GANA) 565,270 17.23%
Eduardo Suger — Social Action Centre (CASA) 244,448 7.45%
Luis Rabbé — Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) 239,208 7.29%
Mario Estrada — Nationalist Change Union (UCN) 103,603 3.16%
Rigoberta Menchú — Encounter for Guatemala (EG) 101,316 3.09%
Fritz García-Gallont — Unionist Party (PU) 95,743 2.92%
Óscar Castañeda — National Advancement Party (PAN) 83,826 2.56%
Miguel Ángel Sandoval — Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity–MAIZE (URNG–MAIZ) 70,080 2.14%
Manuel Conde Orellana — Democratic Union (UD) 24,971 0.76%
Pablo Monsanto — New Nation Alliance (ANN) 19,377 0.59%
Héctor Rosales — Authentic Integral Development (DIA) 18,819 0.57%
Vinicio Cerezo Blandón — Guatemalan Christian Democracy (DCG) 16,529 0.50%
Valid votes (turnout 60.5%/48.3%) 3,280,609 100.0% 2,743,798 100.0%
Blank votes 132,983 50,601
Invalid votes 208,260 101,214
Total votes 3,621,852 2,895,613
Source: Tribunal Supremo Electoral
e • d Summary of the 9 September 2007 Congress of the Republic of Guatemala election results
Parties and alliances Votes % +/– Seats +/–
National Unity of Hope (Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, UNE) 721,988 22.81% +4.4% 48 +16
Grand National Alliance (Gran Alianza Nacional, GANA) 522,480 16.51% –7.8%1 37 –101
Patriotic Party (Partido Patriota, PP) 503,442 15.91% +15.9%1 30 +301
Guatemalan Republican Front (Frente Republicano Guatemalteco, FRG) 310,038 9.80% –9.9% 15 –28
Encounter for Guatemala (Encuentro por Guatemala, EG) 195,151 6.17% +6.17% 4 +4
Unionist Party (Partido Unionista, PU) 192,983 6.10% +0.7% 8 +1
Social Action Centre (Centro de Acción Social, CASA) 154,718 4.89% +4.9% 5 +5
National Advancement Party (Partido de Avanzada Nacional, PAN) 144,910 4.58% –6.3% 4 –13
Nationalist Change Union (Union del Cambio Nacionalista, UCN) 128,593 4.06% +4.1% 4 +4
Guatemalan National Revolucionary Unity–MAIZE
(Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca–MAIZ, URNG–MAIZ)
103,480 3.27% –0.9% 2 ±0
Authentic Integral Development (Desarrollo Integral Auténtico, DIA) 45,142 1.43% –1.6% –1
Democratic Union (Unión Democrática, UD) 44,488 1.41% –0.8% 1 –1
New National Alliance (Alianza Nueva Nación, ANN) 42,790 1.35% –3.5% –6
Front for Democracy (Frente por la Democracia, EL FRENTE) 28,798 0.91% +0.9% ±0
Guatemalan Christian Democracy (Democracia Cristiana Guatemalteca, DCG) 26,190 0.83% –2.4% –1
Valid votes (turnout 60.5%) 3,165,191 100.0 158
Blank votes 212,615
Invalid votes 244,082
Total votes 3,621,888
Source: Tribunal Supremo Electoral and Prensa Libre

1 In the 2003 election, the Patriotic Party was part of the Grand National Alliance, which has since become a party.

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