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, Guatemala: Conservative Alejandro Giammattei was elected as Guatemala's president on Sunday, defeating former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off, the electoral court confirmed.

With the results being updated in real time on the court's website, the institution's president Julio Solorzano declared the result "already irreversible."

Giammattei's lead was more than 550,000 with only a few thousand votes left to count.

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Subscribe to Moneycontrol Pro and gain access to curated markets data, trading recommendations, equity analysis, investment ideas, insights from market gurus and much more. Get Moneycontrol PRO for 1 year at price of 3 months. Use code FREEDOM. </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> Conservative candidate Alejandro Giammattei on Sunday declared himself the president of Guatemala despite a lack of final and official results in the country's recent presidential election, though the preliminary count does appear to show him beating his rival by a comfortable margin.

"I come to tell you, this humble servant, that it will be an immense honor to be the president of the country," said the Vamos ("Let's go") platform's candidate at a press conference in the capital before promising to serve the people and help rebuild the country. </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> 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> Guatemala: Conservative Alejandro Giammattei was elected as Guatemala's president on Sunday, defeating former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off, the central American country's electoral court said.

With the results being updated in real-time on the court's website, the institution's president Julio Solorzano declared the result "already irreversible."

Giammattei will succeed corruption-tainted outgoing President Jimmy Morales, who leaves office in January. "The aim is fulfilled," Giammattei had said earlier.

He had polled almost 58.5% with a lead of 550,000 votes and only a few thousand left to count when the court declared him the victor.

Giammattei will be under immense pressure from the United States to implement a controversial migration pact that would allow Washington to send most Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers who passed through Guatemala back to the poor, crime-stricken country.

The two candidates had both avoided committing to strong positions on the US deal.

Corruption was the main issue leading up to the first round of elections in June — which Torres topped — but that has been superseded by the political scandal over the migration deal.

The center-left Torres, whose ex-husband Alvaro Colom was president from 2008-2012, has been suspected of involvement in corruption. Influential businessman Dionisio Gutierrez recently described her as "a questionable politician with a history that should worry any citizen."

Giammattei has hardly come off any better. Investigative website Nomada branded him as "impulsive... despotic, tyrannical... capricious, vindictive," among other undesirable traits.

But the 63-year-old, a doctor by profession, scored well on voter concerns such as the economy, corruption, and security, according to Risa Grais-Targow of the Eurasia Group. However, he now faces "a lose-lose scenario" regarding the migration pact, Grais-Targow said.

One of Morales's last acts as president was to authorize an agreement with the US administration of Donald Trump designating Guatemala as a "safe third country," which would permit Washington to turn away asylum seekers who didn't seek refuge when passing through Guatemala.

The pact — part of Trump's campaign to stem the flow of migrants to the southern US border — has proved highly unpopular in Guatemala, with demonstrators blocking roads and occupying the University of San Carlos in protest.

In a poll by Prodatos for the Prensa Libre newspaper, 82% of respondents opposed it.

'Risk of retaliation'

 But rejecting the migration pact would run the "risk of retaliation from Trump," Grais-Targow said after the US leader threatened a travel ban, tariffs, and remittance fees if the country didn't bend to his will.

Remittances from Guatemalans in the US are a crucial part of the economy, reaching a record $9.3 billion last year. That compares to Guatemala's export revenue of $10.5 billion. According to the World Bank, remittances account for 12% of the country's GDP.

The agreement was reached last month despite Guatemala's constitutional court having earlier granted an injunction blocking Morales from signing the deal.

Almost 60% of Guatemala's 17.7 million citizens live in poverty, and the country has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Around half the killings are blamed on drug trafficking and extortion operations carried out by powerful gangs.

Morales, barred by Guatemalan law from seeking a second term, urged his replacement to reduce undocumented migration, improve education and tackle chronic malnutrition in the under-fives, which affects 46% of infants.

Guatemalans aren't subject to Trump's proposed migrant measures, but given that poverty in some indigenous areas reaches 80%, many embark on the journey in search of the "American dream" despite the dangers.

Since December, at least five Guatemalan children have died in US custody after crossing into the country from Mexico. And in June, a woman and three children died from heat and dehydration in Texas.

"The problem is that as there's no work in Guatemala, many people want to migrate and it's sad what's happening to our Guatemalan brothers who die or are killed," Emilio Canel, a 26-year-old farmer in Sumpango, told AFP.

More than 250,000 Guatemalans were detained between October 2018 and July this year for trying to enter the US illegally, Washington's embassy said. </s> 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> 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.
Conservative Alejandro Giammattei is elected in the second round of the presidential election and will take office in January 2020.