Chamber:
	Congreso de la República
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	9 November 2003
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the Congress of the Republic on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Elections were held on 9 November 2003 for the Presidency, the Vice-Presidency, the 158 seats of the Congress (increased from 113), the 20 seats in the Central American Parliament and the country's 331 municipalities. It was only the second presidential election since peace accords in 1996 ended a 36-year civil war in which an estimated 100,000-200,000 people died, most of them killed by the military. Some 20 political parties competed in the elections, with eleven candidates running for President. A non-violence pact signed by all parties at the start of campaigning was clearly not respected as the electoral campaign was marred by violence. There were reports of at least 21 election-related killings, 46 threats directed at journalists covering the elections and over one hundred other acts of harassment and intimidation aimed at frightening voters, hampering the campaigning process and interfering with freedom of information and association. Victims of election-related violence included one candidate of the National Union of Hope (UNE), a Grand National Alliance (GANA) candidate, and three Republican Front Party (FRG) sympathisers who were found dead in the municipality of Atescatempa, Jutiapa Department, on 27 October. The main campaign issues were the soaring crime rate, corruption, human rights abuses, the sluggish economy (in a country where 80 per cent of the population live in poverty) and the peace accords signed in 1996, which ended the war but brought little respite to the country, where kidnappings and murder are unfortunately very frequent. Tensions were exacerbated by the controversial presidential candidature of General Ríos Montt, outgoing Speaker of Congress and founder member of the FRG, who was deemed to have a very dubious human rights record and faced lawsuits both at home and abroad for genocide and other crimes against humanity. Mr Ríos Montt, who led a coup in 1982, managed to get his name registered for the election despite a constitutional rule that nobody who had overthrown a government could stand for the Presidency. He used the argument that since the Constitution had been adopted after his coup, the restriction did not apply to him. Mr Ríos Montt threatened violence if he were not allowed to run, and his backers used firearms to break up political rallies. They also held an entire office building hostage. In July 2003, the Supreme Court, with members of his FRG on the bench, ruled that the ban could not be enforced retroactively. Mr Ríos Montt was third in the pre-election opinion polls behind the former Mayor of Guatemala City, Mr Oscar Berger, the conservative head of the GANA, and Mr Alvaro Colom, a centrist-left candidate, and leader of the UNE. Hundreds of international observers from the Organization of American States, the European Union and the US monitored the elections together with many local observers, and outgoing President Alfonso Portillo deployed some 48,000 soldiers and police to ensure peaceful elections. The elections were marked by a huge turnout. People queued for hours to vote, many having travelled for hours to reach voting stations from the country's remote jungle and mountain regions. Two women were killed in a stampede at a polling station as a crowd rushed to cast ballots. In the parliamentary elections, the GANA won 49 seats, while the FRG obtained 41 and the UNE 30. The conservative National Advancement Party won 17 seats and the Alliance New Nation took 7, the same number as the Unionist Party. The remaining seats went to other small parties. As no presidential candidate obtained 50 per cent of the votes in the first round, a second round was held on 28 December 2003. Final results showed that Mr Berger had won 54 per cent of the votes against 44 per cent for Mr Colom and thus became the new President.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (9 November 2003): Elections results
Number of registered electors	5 073 282
Voters	2 745 848 (54 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	324 161
Valid votes	2 421 687

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG)	470 554	19.43
Grand National Alliance (GANA)	592 964	24.49
National Unity for Hope Party (UNE)	426 184	17.60
National Advancement Party (PAN)	250 434	10.34
Unionist Party	138 713	5.73
New Nation Alliance (ANN)	70 397	2.91
Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (URNG)	n.a.	n.a.
Democratic Union (UD)	n.a.	n.a.
Independents	n.a.	n.a.
Other parties	n.a.	n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG)	42
Grand National Alliance (GANA)	41
National Unity for Hope Party (UNE)	31
National Advancement Party (PAN)	18
Unionist Party	7
New Nation Alliance (ANN)	6
Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (URNG)	2
Democratic Union (UD)	2
Independents	3
Other parties	6

Comments:
	The Grand National Alliance is composed of: National Solidarity Party (PSN) Patriotic Party (PP) Reform Party (PR)

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	145
Women:	13
Percent of women:	8.23