Guatemala's presidential election heads to runoff

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal and Sinan Dogan

TORONTO (AA) – Guatemala's presidential election is officially heading to a runoff, media reports said on Wednesday.

The Guatemalan Electoral Court announced that the leader of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, Sandra Torres, who received the most votes in the first round, and the Semilla party's Bernardo Arevalo de Leon will run for president on Aug. 20.

The court, which decided to postpone the official results on July 1 due to objections by political parties, said the election calendar will be followed as planned.

Torres earned 15.86% of the vote and Arevalo de Leon garnered 11.77% on June 25, making it to the second round among 22 candidates.

Contrary to expectations, Manuel Conde, the candidate of the ruling party supported by incumbent President Alejandro Giammattei, was eliminated in the first election.

In Guatemala, which has a population of 9.3 million, more than 8 million voters went to the polls in June to elect the president as well as the vice president, 160 deputies to Congress, 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, and 340 mayors.