Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Giammattei takes office in 2020

Conservative candidate and ex-prison chief Alejandro Giammattei has been elected president of Guatemala.

Preliminary results show he took 59% of the vote, while his centre-left opponent Sandra Torres won 41%.

Ex-first lady Ms Torres, who won the first round in June, was running for the third time, while Mr Giammattei was making his fourth attempt.

Shortly before being elected, Mr Giammattei said he wanted to change a controversial US migration deal.

He has been elected for a single four-year term, replacing outgoing President Jimmy Morales.

Voter turnout was reportedly low amid disillusionment with Mr Morales' administration and scepticism over corruption.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Former first lady Sandra Torres won the first round of votes with a comfortable margin

"It will be an immense honour to be president of this country that I love so much," said Mr Giammattei.

"We will rebuild Guatemala. I have no words to say how grateful I am."

US migration agreement 'not right'

Mr Giammattei told Reuters he wanted to see what could be done to improve a deal agreed by Mr Morales and US President Donald Trump, which seeks to stem migration to the United States by using Guatemala as a buffer zone.

Under the agreement, migrants passing through Guatemala en route to the US would have to apply for asylum in the former rather than in the US.

"It's not right for the country," Mr Giammattei said. "If we don't have the capacity to look after our own people, imagine what it will be like for foreigners."

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Guatemala is still recovering from a 36-year civil war, which ended in 1996

In the lead up to the election, both candidates said they opposed the deal, arguing that Guatemala - a country plagued by poverty and violence - does not have the capacity to process the asylum requests and even less so to look after the applicants or return them to their home countries if their requests are rejected.

President Morales signed the "Safe Third Country" agreement on 27 July, just days after President Trump had threatened Guatemala with tariffs and other sanctions.

But Mr Giammattei will not take office until January 2020, by which time the arrangement will be in full swing.

"I hope that during this transition the doors will open to get more information so we can see what, from a diplomatic point of view, we can do to remove from this deal the things that are not right for us," he said.

Who is Alejandro Giammattei?

The 63-year-old candidate stood for the right-wing Vamos (Let's Go) party, although in each of his four previous presidential attempts he has run for a different party.

The incoming president, who walks with crutches due to multiple sclerosis, vehemently opposes gay marriage and abortion and supports the death penalty.

In his campaign, Mr Giammattei promised to build "a wall of prosperity" to keep Guatemalans from migrating to the US. In order to lessen the disparity between the rich and the poor, he wants to attract more foreign investment to Guatemala by strengthening the protections granted to private property.

He said he would back a bill declaring gang members "terrorists" so that if imprisoned they would have no right to conjugal visits and would be forced to work in jail.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Giammattei was finally elected following four unsuccessful presidential runs

Mr Giammattei is a trained doctor who was named director of the Guatemalan prison system in 2006.

That same year, he led a controversial operation to take control of the Pavón prison, which had been run by inmates for a decade. Seven inmates died during the raids by the security forces.

Mr Giammattei was among eight people accused over the incident and after spending 10 months in pre-trial detention, he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

He came fourth in the 2015 election.

How did Guatemalans feel about the election?

Many Guatemalans were unenthusiastic about this election. Voters cited insecurity as their main concern, followed by unemployment, high living costs and corruption.

Former comedian Mr Morales' slogan for his election campaign in 2015 was "not corrupt, nor a thief" but in January he withdrew from a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission.

The election run-up was overshadowed by the fact that the two favourites to win were prevented from standing in the poll.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Guatemalans said they were fed up with corruption

The former attorney-general, Thelma Aldana, and Zury Ríos, the daughter of the late military ruler, Efraín Ríos Montt, were barred from running by Guatemala's constitutional court, angering those who were planning on voting for them.

Four years after large-scale anti-corruption protests forced then-President Otto Pérez Molina to resign, many Guatemalans were also fed up with scandals and feel not enough has been done by the government of Jimmy Morales to combat graft.

Corruption remains one of the top three issues voters wanted to see tackled but Mr Giammattei has not said whether he plans to renew the mandate of the UN's International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which is due to expire in September. </s> Orlando Estrada, AFP | Guatemalan candidate for the Vamos (Let's Go) party Alejandro Giammattei shows his inked finger after voting at a polling station in Guatemala City on August 11, 2019.

Conservative Alejandro Giammattei appeared poised for a decisive victory in Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday, storming into a commanding lead over his centre-left rival, former first lady Sandra Torres, preliminary results showed.

With returns from three-fifths of the polling stations counted, Giammattei had secured more than 58% of the vote, while Torres had won just over 41%, according to the tally posted on the website of the country's electoral tribunal.

The next president is likely to face a major challenge on taking office in January after the country signed an unpopular deal with Washington to act as a buffer against illegal immigration under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Threatened with economic sanctions if it said no, the administration of outgoing President Jimmy Morales reached an accord in late July to make Guatemala a so-called safe third country for migrants, despite the endemic poverty and violence plaguing the Central American nation.

Both Giammattei and Torres have criticized the deal. But it is unclear that either will be able to do much to stop it. </s> Conservative candidate Alejandro Giammattei won the second round of Guatemala’s presidential election on Sunday.

With 95 per cent of precincts counted, Giammattei took some 59 per cent of the vote, according to the electoral commission.

It was fifth time lucky for Giammattei. The 63-year-old former head of the country’s prison system failed in four previous bids for the presidency.

Left-leaning former first lady Sandra Torres, 63, took nearly 26 per cent of the vote.

“The moment of God has come,” Giammattei said at a press conference on Sunday evening. “We will rebuild the country.”

Giammattei will succeed President Jimmy Morales, whom the constitution bars from seeking re-election.

Neither candidate aroused great enthusiasm in the Central American country of 17 million residents, as both of them are familiar faces linked to high-level scandals.

Torres is under investigation for alleged campaign finance violations.

She divorced then-president Alvaro Colom in 2011 to be able to run, as the constitution bars sitting presidents’ spouses from succeeding them.

He was jailed and then exonerated after a police operation at a prison led to the deaths of seven inmates while he was at the helm.

Neither candidate is believed to want to reverse Morales’ decision to expel the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which helped to launch a massive anti-corruption drive and brought down then-president Otto Perez Molina in 2015.

The CICIG also started investigating the campaign financing of Morales, who has accused the commission of getting involved in politics and announced he will not renew its mandate when it expires in September.

Guatemala has a poverty rate of nearly 60 per cent, according to the World Bank.

The homicide rate went down slightly, to 22 killings per 100,000 residents in 2018, but still remains high.

About 8 million people were eligible to vote.

Election results are expected late Sunday or on Monday. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Sandra Torres led most polls in the run up to Sunday's vote

Former First Lady Sandra Torres has taken the lead in the first round of Guatemala's presidential elections, preliminary results show.

She now faces her nearest conservative rival, Alejandro Giammattei, in a run-off vote in August.

With 98% of polling stations tallied, Ms Torres took 25.70% of the vote, while Mr Giammattei got 13.92%.

The next president will be under pressure to tackle gang violence and poverty, which dominated campaigning.

Ms Torres said on Monday she would work to build alliances to win the run-off, which is due to be held on 11 August.

"The country needs unity: to unite the countryside with the city, to unite the workers with the business community, and also in civil society, in all sectors," the centre-left candidate told reporters.

Around 40,000 police officers were on duty during voting on Sunday amid fears of violence.

In San Jorge in the east of the country, voting was suspended after death threats were made against electoral authorities, according to Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart.

Nineteen candidates were running to succeed President Jimmy Morales.

Thelma Aldana, the former attorney-general, and Zury Ríos, the daughter of the late military ruler Efraín Ríos Montt, were barred from running for the presidency. Another candidate was arrested in Miami on suspicion of conspiring to import cocaine to the US.

Reuters Guatemala election 8.1 millioneligible voters choose 1 President and vice-president

160 Members of Congress

340 Mayors

20Members of the Central American Parliament Source: Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tibunal

The president is elected by absolute majority for a single four-year term. Under Guatemalan law, current President Jimmy Morales cannot stand for a second term.

Who is Sandra Torres?

Image copyright EPA Image caption Sandra Torres divorced her husband to be able to run for president

Sandra Torres, 63, failed in her two previous attempts to be elected president, but the most recent opinion polls put her in the lead.

Ms Torres was married to Álvaro Colom, who governed Guatemala from 2008 to 2012, and who is currently under investigation for alleged fraud.

She divorced him in 2011 in order to bypass a law which banned close relatives of the president from succeeding him.

In 2011, her candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court, but she was allowed to run in 2015. That time, she had enough votes to get her into the second round where she was defeated by Jimmy Morales by a large margin of almost 35 percentage points.

Ms Torres is running for the social-democratic National Unity of Hope party (UNE).

She and her party are under investigation for alleged illegal campaign financing during the last election, which she has denied.

Ms Torres says she will provide "comprehensive solutions like development, fight against poverty and job opportunities" to try to convince Guatemalans to stay in the country rather than migrating to the United States.

The former First Lady has also pledged to deploy troops in Guatemala's streets to crack down on drug gangs.

Who is Alejandro Giammattei, the runner up?

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Alejandro Giammattei was once in charge of the Guatemalan prison service

The 63-year-old candidate is standing for the right-wing Vamos (Let's Go) party and this is his fourth attempt at becoming president. Each time, he has run for a different party.

Mr Giammattei is a trained doctor who was named director of the Guatemalan prison system in 2006.

That same year, he led a controversial operation to take control of the Pavón prison, which had been run by inmates for a decade. Seven inmates died during the raids by the security forces.

Mr Giammattei was among eight people accused over the incident and after spending 10 months in pre-trial detention, he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

He came fourth in the 2015 election.

He says that if he is elected, he will build "a wall of prosperity" to keep Guatemalans from migrating to the US.

In order to lessen the disparity between the rich and the poor, he wants to attract more foreign investment to Guatemala by strengthening the protections granted to private property.

What are the main issues?

Guatemalans have told pollsters that their top concern is government corruption.

Four years after large-scale anti-corruption protests forced then-President Otto Pérez Molina to resign, many Guatemalans feel not enough has been done by the government of Jimmy Morales to combat corruption.

Mr Morales caused outrage when he tried to kick the UN-backed anti-corruption commission out of Guatemala when it investigated him over alleged corruption.

The most vocal supporter for the commission, known as CICIG by its Spanish initials, has been Thelma Aldana, who as Guatemala's attorney general has worked closely with it. Before she was barred, she said she would strengthen CICIG and make government more efficient and transparent. </s> Earlier, the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal reported Alejandro Giammattei was leading after more than 58 percent of votes counted.

Giammattei received 58.54 percent of the vote, while his contender, Sandra Torres of the social-democratic National Unity of Hope, has won 41.46 percent.

In the first round, which was held on June 16, the situation was quite the opposite. Torres led the race with about 26 percent. Giammattei came second with 14 percent.

From 2006 to 2008, Giammattei served as director of the country’s penitentiary system.

The next Guatemalan president may face a major challenge on taking office in January after US and Guatemalan representatives signed a safe third country asylum agreement, an agreement typically made between two countries that require migrants and refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they enter. Both Giammattei and Torres have criticized the deal. </s> Guatemala’s Electoral Tribunal on Sunday declared conservative Alejandro Giammattei of the Vamos party winner of the presidential election over his center-left opponent, former first lady Sandra Torres. </s> Guatemalan conservative Alejandro Giammattei claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, saying it would be an honor to serve as president after preliminary results gave him a massive lead over his center-left rival. </s> GUATEMALA CITY: Corruption-weary Guatemalans went to the polls Sunday to elect a new president after a tumultuous campaign that saw two leading candidates barred from taking part and the top electoral crimes prosecutor forced to flee the country, fearing for his life.

Besides the president, voters will elect members of Congress and municipal offices. Gang violence, poverty and streams of US-bound migrants have dominated campaigning in Central America´s most populous country, where a crowded field of 19 candidates is vying to succeed outgoing president Jimmy Morales.

The country´s top anti-corruption campaigner, former attorney general Thelma Aldana, is not among them. She was expected to poll strongly, but was barred from running last month over allegations of irregularities dating from when she was a barnstorming public prosecutor. Sandra Torres, a 63-year-old businesswoman and former first lady, heads into the election as the favorite, having built a clear opinion-poll lead over second placed Alejandro Giammattei, also 63.

Torres — candidate for the center-left Unity of Hope party (UNE) — has over 22 percent of voter preferences in the latest polls, while Giammattei, a doctor running for the conservative Vamos party, trails with just over 11 percent.

However, neither is seen as likely to poll strongly enough Sunday to avoid a runoff round on August 11.Analysts believe Torres, a polarizing figure since her years as the Central American country´s first lady, would struggle in a second round, given Giammattei´s ability to unify the conservative vote against her.

Three other candidates are vying for third place, with indigenous woman Thelma Cabrera building momentum in the closing stages of the campaign. Guatemala´s electorate of eight million is also voting in congressional and municipal elections on Sunday.

Torres´s UNE is expected to poll strongly but fall short of a majority in the deeply fractured 160-seat congress. The ex-wife of former president Alvaro Colom, in power from 2008-2012, Torres has pledged health and education reforms as well as jobs to stem the flow of migration to the US.

She has vowed to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage. Giammattei has vowed to bring back the death penalty to help crush violent gangs, fight poverty to stop migration and end “disgusting” corruption.

Monitors from the Organization of American States (OAS), led by former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solis, are supervising the polls. All police leave has been canceled and around 40,000 police have been put on alert, while the military has been mobilized to guard key buildings and jails. Authorities have expressed concern about possible outbreaks of violence in at least 55 municipalities.

Guatemala has one of the world´s highest homicide rates: official statistics put the rate at 22.4 murders per 100,000 people at the end of 2018. Around half the killings are blamed on drug trafficking and extortion operations carried out by powerful gangs. Morales, a former TV comedian who won power in 2015 — beating Torres in the run-off — is obliged to step down under Guatemala´s one-term rules. </s> Guatemala will audit election returns after fraud allegations in the wake of last Sunday's presidential and legislative elections, the country's Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced Thursday

Guatemala City, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 21st Jun, 2019 ) :Guatemala will audit election returns after fraud allegations in the wake of last Sunday's presidential and legislative elections, the country's Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) announced Thursday.

TSE president Julio Solorzano told journalists in the Central American country that he had ordered an audit of certified returns from each ballot box to "clarify disagreements." Speaking at a news conference, Solorzano said the process would begin on Monday. The audit would include municipal and congressional elections held in tandem with the presidential vote.

Center-left former first lady Sandra Torres leads in the presidential polls with 25.7 percent of the vote, ahead of conservative Alejandro Giammattei, with 14 percent.

Both had been expected to contest the August 11 run-off round before Thursday's announcement.

The leftist Movement for the Liberation of Peoples -- whose candidate Thelma Cabrera came fifth in the presidential race -- denounced "evident electoral fraud." Solorzano said he had invited Cabrera and her party to the court to check her complaint.

The tumultuous campaign to succeed outgoing President Jimmy Morales saw two leading candidates barred from taking part in the election and the country's top electoral crimes prosecutor flee the country after threats.

Disturbances broke out Thursday in several municipalities where mayoral candidates rejected the results.

A lawmaker from Morales' FCN-Nacion party, Estuardo Galdamez, went on social media to condemn electoral fraud and said the country was on the brink of becoming a "dictatorship" under Torres' Unity of Hope party.

The Organization of American States (OAS) welcomed the TSE decision, which it said was aimed at "providing greater transparency and certainty in the electoral process, especially in relation to local and legislative elections." The TSE had on Wednesday rejected allegations of fraud in the legislative poll.

The OAS, which sent an observer mission to the polls led by former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solis, had signed off on the election and in its statement Thursday rejected allegations of fraud, despite reporting errors.

"The mission received complaints of vote buying and observed possible voter transport, as well as errors in the digitalization of ballots," it said.

"However, these actions in no way change the popular will reflected in the results of the presidential contest.""The important thing now is to conclude the process, clear all doubts and begin to focus on implementing the recommendations so that the process of the second round is better than the first."One person died and nine police officers were wounded in disturbances that followed the polls last Sunday.
Conservative Alejandro Giammattei is elected in the second round of the presidential election and will take office in January 2020.