At stake in this election:

• 158 seats in Guatemala's Congress of the Republic

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Oscar Jose Rafael BERGER Perdomo
• Head of Government: President Oscar Jose Rafael BERGER Perdomo
• Assembly: Guatemala has a unicameral Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) with 158 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la Republica) 158 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Of the 158 members, 127 are departmental-level representatives selected through departmental lists; 31 are national-level representatives selected through national party lists. All members are elected to four-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: National Unity for Hope (UNE) / Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza
  • Leader: Alvaro COLOM Caballeros
• Party: Grand National Alliance (GANA) / Gran Aliana Nacional
  • Leader: Alfredo VILLA
• Party: Patriot Party (PP) / Partido Patriota***
  • Leader: Otto PEREZ Molina
• Party: Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) / Frente Republicano Guatemalteco
  • Leader: Efrain RIOS Montt
• Party: Unionist Party (PU) / Partido Unionista
  • Leader: Fritz GARCIA Gallont
• Party: Center for Social Action (CASA) / Centro de Accion Social
  • Leader: Eduardo SUGER
• Party: Nationalist Change Union (UCN) / Union del Cambio Nacionalista
  • Leader: Sidney SHAW
• Party: Encounter for Guatemala (EG) / Encuentro por Guatemala
  • Leader: Rigoberta MENCHU Cum
• Party: National Advancement Party (PAN) / Partido de Avanzada Nacional
  • Leader: Ruben Dario MORALES
• Party: Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG-MAIZ)
  • Leader: Hector NUILA
• Party: Democratic Union (UD) / Union Democratica
  • Leader: Maneul CONDE Orellana

*** The Patriot Party was part of the Grand National Alliance in 2003.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 13,797,629 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 5,990,029 (September 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 7,062,183 (2007)

·         Is Guatemala a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (8 June 1981)

·         Has Guatemala ratified CEDAW: Yes (12 August 1982)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 19 (following the 2007 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 128 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Guatemala a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Guatemala ratified CRPD: Yes (7 April 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 2,069,644 (est.)