With more than 90% of the votes counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala reported in the early hours of this Monday, June 26, that the voting trend is “definitive.” Therefore, the center-right former first lady Sandra Torres will face the left-wing candidate Bernardo Arévalo, in a presidential runoff scheduled for August 20. The final tally is expected to be published in about five days after an election day marked by high abstentionism.
First modification:
The left surprises and agrees to the second round of the presidential elections in Guatemala.
According to the information released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala this Monday, June 26, the former first lady and candidate of the center-right, Sandra Torres, leads the vote count after the general elections on Sunday.
The surprise of the day has been the candidate of the left, Bernardo Arévalo, who did not appear in the polls, and follows Torres in the vote count. Therefore, he will contest the Executive against Torres in the second round scheduled for August 20.
The estimates prior to the general elections in Guatemala were far from reflecting what the polls dictated last Sunday, where the left gave an unexpected blow by being the second most voted party and establishing its presence in the next round that will define the new president of Guatemala. the Central American nation, scheduled for August 20.
Bernardo Arévalo de León, a candidate from the Semilla party, obtained -with more than 90% of the vote count carried out- 12.07% of the votes of the electorate. The deputy, who fluctuated between seventh and eighth place in preliminary polls, drew vital support from urban areas like Guatemala City.
Ahead of the former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova, representative of the UNE party, who led with 15.32% of the votes and will have a new opportunity to win the presidency, after falling into the two antecedents that had her in the ballot.
Arévalo de León, son of former President Juan José Arévalo Bermejo – who ruled between 1945 and 1951 and is considered one of the best Guatemalan heads of state-, thanked through social networks.
Our deep and total gratitude to the people who gave us their vote of confidence. Thank you for your courage and for stepping up.
— Bernardo Arévalo de León ? (@BArevalodeLeon) June 26, 2023
“Our deep and total gratitude to the people who gave us their vote of confidence. Thank you for your courage and for stepping up,” he expressed.
Semilla is a space that was born after the demonstrations for the fight against corruption that occurred in 2015. Currently, it is barely represented in Congress by five parliamentarians, where the 64-year-old candidate is head of the bench.
Part of the leftist success in the first round is due to a pronounced drop in support for the candidacies of Edmond Mulet and Zury Ríos Sosa, daughter of the dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, who were expected to fight for second place.
While Alejandro Giammattei’s man, the lawyer Manuel Conde, ranked third with only 7.83%.
Torres Casanova, for his third attempt at the presidency
The former first lady was the most voted in the first round of the elections in Guatemala and will be present in a new ballot, the third consecutive for her in her political career.
The candidate of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party fell in 2015 against comedian Jimmy Morales and in 2019 against the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.
However, for this occasion the expectations are different and in his first speeches after the victory, Torres Casanova showed optimism. “We are going to win, against whoever it is,” he said at a press conference in the early hours of Monday.
“I am very grateful, first with God and then with the people who have always backed and supported us,” she added.
Despite the great results of the Guatemalan left, the other story of the day involved high absenteeism and a large number of blank votes, a symbol of the population’s discontent with their political class.
Of the 9.3 million citizens authorized to vote, only 60% went to the polls. While, of that percentage, 25% of the votes were invalid and the number of blank votes reached 17.39%, a higher figure than that of Torres Casanova, the most elected candidate.
With EFE and Reuters
