Guatemalan general election, 1999

Guatemalan presidential election, 1999

← 1995-96 7 November 1999 2003 →
Nominee Alfonso Portillo Óscar Berger Party FRG PAN Popular vote 1,184,932 549,408 Percentage 68.31% 31.69%
President before election Álvaro Arzú PAN President-elect Alfonso Portillo FRG

Álvaro Arzú
PAN

Alfonso Portillo
FRG

General elections were held in Guatemala on 7 November 1999, with a second round of the presidential elections on 26 December.Alfonso Portillo won the presidential elections, whilst his Guatemalan Republican Front also won the Congressional elections. Voter turnout was 53.8% on 7 November and 40.4% on 26 December.

Media owner Remigio Ángel González gave more than $2.6 million and free airtime to Alfonso Portillo's campaign, which led to some political analysts to claim that the free adverts helped Portillo win the election. After becoming president, Portillo appointed Gonzalez's brother-in-law Luis Rabbé to the post of Minister of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing, a post which included responsibility for overseeing the broadcast media. The presidential election also established a pattern for the next 16 years in which the runner-up of the previous contest then went on to win.

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