Guatemala will have elections to pick a president, vice president, and members of Congress on June 25. However, sociological polls show that the majority of respondents (44.9%) are unwilling to vote for any of the candidates, despite the fact that there are over ten candidates on the list. In the 2019 elections, the current president, Alejandro Giammattei, a former director general of the country's penal system, received slightly under 2 million votes, accounting for 11% of the entire population.
The current president, Alejandro Giammattei is not running in the current elections. Three of the most popular opposition candidates are also excluded: businessman Carlos Pineda, indigenous representative Telma Cabrera, and politician Roberto Arzu. They were withdrawn from the elections for a variety of procedural violations including the submission of paperwork and the publication of information about themselves. Following that, the poll leaders - at least among those who intend to vote , as the opposition demands - were candidates close to the current government: former first lady Sandra Torres (21.3%), a former high-ranking diplomat and MP Congress Edmond Mulet (13.4%), and Suri Rios, the daughter of the country's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt (9.1%).
A series of corruption scandals, intimidation of independent media, and the elimination of opposition candidates have badly eroded Guatemalans' trust in the elections. Polls show that just 17% of locals trust the country's voting system.
"The problem in Guatemala is that we don't have the rule of law," said Carlos Alvarado, a local political analyst who predicts a record low voter participation.
In February, hundreds of residents rallied against the exclusion of Thelma Cabrera, human rights defender and politician who ran for president in 2019, from the elections.
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