FACTBOX-Guatemala's presidential candidates and their policies

FACTBOX-Guatemala's presidential candidates and their policies

Source: Reuters - Thu, 22 Oct 2015 19:01 GMT

Oct 22 (Reuters) - A comedian who tapped into public anger over government corruption and a center-left former first lady will contest a run-off on Sunday in Guatemala's presidential election. The following are some main facts about candidates Jimmy Morales and Sandra Torres and their policies: JIMMY MORALES The TV comedian surged in opinion polls with his slogan "not corrupt, not a thief," channeling voter outrage over a series of graft scandals that torpedoed the previous government. A charismatic political outsider and former theology student, Morales played up his humble roots and told jokes from his 14-year stint on a TV comedy show to draw support in a country of 15 million where more than half live in poverty. But Morales has raised eyebrows with proposals such as tagging teachers with GPS devices to make sure they show up to class, and a 6-page political manifesto that leaves questions unanswered about what he would do in office. Morales has also been criticized for his National Convergence Front party's ties to the military, which played a divisive and often brutal role in Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war. The candidate has said much of the party's top brass has been replaced by trusted outsiders. MORALES' POLICIES: * Make government spending transparent, audit and clean up institutions, increase the Attorney General's budget, and renew the mandate of CICIG, a powerful UN-backed body that led the probe into corruption by former President Otto Perez * Tag teachers with GPS trackers to make sure they show up to class, hand out smart phones to Guatemalan children, and build and repair schools * Revive Guatemala's territorial claims against Belize. He is pro-death penalty, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-drug legalization * Will not raise taxes, at least for a year, until public confidence is restored, but will maintain spending at current pace and boost mining royalties * Limit access to social programs to the poorest and eliminate corruption in the programs

SANDRA TORRES The 60-year-old center-left politician has vowed to extend the leftist policies of her ex-husband and former president Alvaro Colom, boosting social spending to tackle Guatemala's stubborn poverty rate. But she has also courted business interests with pledges to promote public-private partnerships and fueled controversy by picking Perez's former right hand man Mario Leal, a businessman, as running mate. Daughter of a female mayor in Guatemala's forested northern Peten department, Torres would be Guatemala's first woman president. Buoyed by her National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, which has an established political machine with strong rural support, Torres has touted her political experience. But she has faced criticism for lashing out aggressively at Morales in debates and for demanding allegiance to her party in exchange for aid to poor families as head of a powerful social spending committee in her husband's government. TORRES' POLICIES: * Create a new Transparency Ministry, promote an anti-bribery law, strengthen the Inspector General's Office, renew CICIG's mandate * Boost tax collection, restructure the tax office, shift debt into foreign currency and dedicate 6.9 percent of GDP to social spending * Promote public-private partnerships, lower mortgage interest rates and ensure free access to education * Put broadband and highway concessions out to tender, increase mining royalties * Require prisoners to work in jail in exchange for food, isolating high-profile criminals. (Compiled by Alexandra Alper; editing by Grant McCool)

http://www.trust.org/item/20151022190342-706j1/