Guatemala Government

The Republic of Guatemala has a constitutional democratic type of government. The head of the government is the president and the head of state. The country is a multiparty state and the executive power is exercised by the government. On the other hand the Congress and the government exercise the legislative power. The constitution of 1985 broke the power of the government into legislature, judiciary, and executive. The judiciary in the country is independent of the legislature and the executive.

Guatemala has a unicameral parliamentary system and it is located between Parque Alameda and Parque El Ejido. The parliament is made up of 158 members who are directly elected for a term of 4 years. The official residence of the president is the Guatemalan National Palace.

The general elections in Guatemala are held after every four years. Anyone who is 18 years and above is allowed to vote, and voting is voluntary. The president can only serve for one term while his deputy can run for the presidential seat after four years have elapsed since being in the vice presidents seat. To be eligible for election the president must be 40 years old and must be nominated by a registered party. The president is elected on a two-round system with the rerun used to make the final results. 31 members of Congress are elected through a national list while the remaining are elected through districts comprising of around 80,000 voters.

Major political parties in Guatemala include the Democratic Union, the Grand National Alliance, the Encounter for Guatemala, the National Unity of Hope, and Winaq. Interestingly, no single party in Guatemala has ever been successfully elected more than once.