National Unity of Hope

The National Unity of Hope (Spanish: Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza, UNE) is a populist political party in Guatemala. It was founded in 2002 and was defined itself as a social-democratic and social-Christian party, but nowadays it is described as a right-wing political party. It is the largest political party in Guatemala by the number of members.

National Unity of Hope
Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza
AbbreviationUNE
LeaderSandra Torres
SpokespersonÉdgar Rosales
Founded6 September 2002 (2002-09-06)
Split fromNew Nation Alternative
Membership (2023)89,696[1]
IdeologyPopulism[2]
Social conservatism[2]
Historical:
Social democracy[3]
Christian left[4]
Political positionCentre-right[5][6][7] to right-wing[8][9][10]
Historical:
Centre[11][12][6][13] to left-wing[14]
Regional affiliationCenter-Democratic Integration Group
Continental affiliationCOPPPAL (Observer)
International affiliationSocialist International[15]
Colors  Green
Seats in Congress
28 / 160
Website
www.une.org.gt

2003 election
Main article: 2003 Guatemalan general election

At the legislative elections held on November 9, 2003, the party won 17.9% of the popular vote and 32 out of 158 seats in Congress. Its presidential candidate Álvaro Colom won 26.4% in the presidential elections on the same day and was defeated in the second round, when he received 45.9%.

2007 election
Main article: 2007 Guatemalan general election

For the 2007 elections, the party again chose Colom as its presidential candidate. He came in first place with 28% of the vote; in the Legislative Election, the party won 22.8% of the vote and 48 seats in Congress, more than any other party. On November 4, 2007, in the second round of the election, Colom was elected President of Guatemala. It would mark the first time since 1954 that Guatemala had a left wing government.[16]

2011 election
Main article: 2011 Guatemalan general election

In the 2011 elections, the Constitutional Court ruled out the candidacy of Colom's ex-wife, Sandra Torres, thus making it the first time in the history of the elections that an official ruling party did not present presidential and vice-presidential candidacies.

2015 election
Main article: 2015 Guatemalan general election

In the 2015 elections held on September 6, 2015, the National Unity of Hope won 19.76% of the vote in the first round and 27 seats in Congress. In the second round (run-off) Presidential candidate Sandra Torres placed second in the presidential race with 32.56% of the vote, eventually losing in the October 25 run-off to Jimmy Morales of the National Convergence Front (FCN/Nation).

2019 election
Main article: 2019 Guatemalan general election

In the 2019 elections held on June 16, 2019, the party again chose Sandra Torres as its presidential candidate. She came in first place in the first round with 25.54% of the vote but lost the second round on August 11, 2019 with 42.05% of the vote to Alejandro Giammattei of the Vamos party; in the Legislative Election, the UNE party won 54 seats in Congress, more than any other party.

2023 election
Main article: 2023 Guatemalan general election

The National Unity of Hope had an internal division between deputies opponents and supporters of Sandra Torres in 2020, caused by Torres's accusations of corruption and poor electoral results in 2019, as well as her support for the government of Alejandro Giammattei. A faction opposing Torres removed her as leader and expelled her from the party in 2021. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ruled in favor of Torres and allowed her to continue as party leader.[17] A few days after the decision of the electoral court, the opposition group to Sandra Torres announced its resignation from the National Unity of Hope, to found the "Parliamentary Opposition Group", in reference to its parliamentary opposition to the Giammattei government.[18]

The Parliamentary Opposition Group approached the Will, Opportunity and Solidarity political party.[19]

Electoral history

Presidential elections
Election Candidates First round Second round Status
President Vice President Votes  % Votes  %
2003 Álvaro Colom Fernando Andrade 707,578 26.36 1,046,868 45.87 Lost Red XN
2007 Rafael Espada 926,236 28.25 1,449,533 52.81 Won Green tickY
2011[lower-alpha 1] Sandra Torres Roberto Díaz-Durán Disqualified
2015 Mario Leal 948,809 19.76 1,328,342 32.56 Lost Red XN
2019 Carlos Raúl Morales 1,112,939 25.42 1,384,044 42.05 Lost Red XN
2023 Romeo Guerra 881,592 20.98 1,567,664 39.09 Lost Red XN
  1. Candidate supported also by Grand National Alliance.

Legislative elections
Election Votes  % Seats +/– Status
2003 457,308 17.92
32 / 158
 New Opposition
2007 720,285 22.84
52 / 158
 Increase 20 Government
2011[lower-alpha 1] 985,610 22.47
48 / 158
 Decrease 4 Opposition
2015 676,080 14.83
32 / 158
 Decrease 16 Opposition
2019 717,204 17.81
54 / 160
 Increase 22 External support
2023 538,010 12.90
28 / 160
 Decrease 26 TBA
  1. Run in coalition with Grand National Alliance.


Notes

    References
    1. "Estadísticas de Afiliados a Partidos Políticos".
    2. "Elecciones Guatemala 2023: Análisis del Sistema Político y Electoral" (PDF) (in Spanish). Revista Jurídica Auctoritas Prudentium. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
    3. "Regierung Guatemalas ohne Präsidentschaftskandidaten" (in German). Abendzeitung. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
    4. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2015/564395/EPRS_ATA%282015%29564395_EN.pdf
    5. La Platicadita con Sandra Torres. YouTube. Guatemala: El Bencho. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
    6. "Estos son los candidatos favoritos que lucharán por la Presidencia de Guatemala". France 24. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
    7. "Balotaje en Guatemala: el TSE apunta a segunda vuelta entre Sandra Torres y Bernardo Arévalo". France 24. 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
    8. Abbott, Jeff. "Concerns over Guatemalan democracy after leading party suspended". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
    9. "Guatemala: Bernardo Arevalo ends 12 years of right-wing domination". Le Monde.fr. 2023-08-21. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
    10. Loaiza, Melissa Velásquez (2023-08-16). "ANÁLISIS | El voto nulo en Guatemala fue una protesta contra el sistema, según expertos. ¿Podría serlo en la segunda vuelta?". CNN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-14.
    11. "Former First Lady Leads In 1st Round Of Voting In Guatemala Presidential Election". National Public Radio. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
    12. "Former first lady leads in Guatemala election". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
    13. "Guatemala election: former first lady Sandra Torres heads for runoff". The Guardian. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
    14. "Guatemala swears in leftist president". NBC News. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
    15. "Socialist International".
    16. Transparency International e.V. "publications/newsletter/2008/January 2008/interview". Archived from the original on 2016-03-25.
    17. "TSE ordena que Sandra Torres asuma nuevamente el cargo de secretaria general del Partido UNE". Guatevisión (in Spanish). 12 October 2021.
    18. "Grupo de diputados presenta el Grupo Parlamentario de Oposición". Prensa Libre (in Spanish). 4 November 2021.
    19. "VOS-GPO denuncia bloqueo de Giammattei, Torres y el TSE". La Hora (in Spanish). 15 November 2022.


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