Elections in Guatemala - November 7, 1999(12/27/99) Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) candidate Alfonso Portillo defeated National Advancement Party (PAN) contender Oscar Berger in yesterday's runoff election. Definitive results from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) indicated a resounding, two-to-one Portillo victory, who won with 68.32% of the vote (1,173,823 votes), compared to Berger's 31.68% (545,151). Portillo triumphed in all the 330 municipalities that constitute the Central American nation. The new president-elect assumes office on January 14, 2000. Of Guatemala's 4,458,744 registered voters, only 40.5% turned out.
Portillo will govern with a congressional majority. According to the national daily Prensa Libre, the definitive composition of the Congress elected last November is as follows. Of 113 total seats:
Source: Prensa Libre, December 26, 27; Tribunal Supremo Electoral
According to information currently available from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), partial results indicate that the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) has won 1,037,775 votes; the National Advancement Party (PAN), 660,404; the DIA-Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (UNRG), 268,001; the Progressive Liberty Party (PLP), 67,680; and Democratic Reconciliation Action (ARDE), 45,143. Given a total votation of 2,378,989, the percentages are as follows: FRG - 43.6%; PAN - 27.7; UNRG - 11.2% (calculations based on official reports). Votes are still being scrutinized. A run-off election will be held on December 26, 2000. (Article 184, Guatemalan Constitution; Article 2, Decree 1-90, 1990, Supreme Electoral Tribunal). The participation rate was 53.36%.
Data was not immediately available on the distribution of seats to Guatemala's unicamaral Congress. A number of small, new parties may be cancelled, since the Guatemalan Electoral Law establishes a relatively high threshold of 4% to obtain congressional representation (Article 93, section b).
Source: Tribunal Electoral Supremo
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