Global Courant
The vice presidency is a popularly elected position. The official reaches the Executive hand in hand with the president as a team. Articles 190 and 191 of the Constitution of the Republic establish its functions.
Although the responsibilities are different from those of the president, it is not without relevance since his role affects the ministries, commissions, councils and secretariats related to foreign policy, illicit drug trafficking, housing, the economy and even against sexual violence. One of the functions established in the Constitution is to relieve the president when he is out of the country or when he is delegated.
Allan Ortiz, a political analyst, explained that “the vice presidency is not a position that is waiting for the president to leave permanently to start working. The president has several functions, and they are quite important.”
Sebastián Palomo, an analyst for Guatemala Visible, also highlighted the importance of the vice president: “He is extremely important for the constitutional order, he is the president’s substitute, but he also has specific functions so as not to monopolize the position of the president of the Executive Branch,” he commented. .
In addition, Ortiz explained that the figure of the presidency must be understood as a whole, that is, that both positions work in coordination in the management of the vision of the country and of that political agenda that led the couple to be elected.
Assessment
In the Free Survey, the work of the current vice president, Guillermo Castillo, was disapproved by 90.8 percent of those surveyed.
The independent analyst, Jorge Wong said that the figure of the vice president in the government has had a tendency to invisibility, however, in the first years of government there were issues of clash between the president and the vice president.
“He decided, I imagine, to stay on the sidelines and have the position nominally,” the expert specified.
He added that there may be a possibility that he correctly performs his functions without this being in the public domain and that in this case, it would seem that President Alejandro Giammattei has defined the functions of the vice president.
Ortiz identified that Castillo’s appearance in the media in the first years of government created the perception that there was a friction in the Executive, however, that he does not make appearances does not mean that he is not fulfilling his role.
“That it is not mediatic does not mean that he is waiting for the president to call him,” he said. And he pointed out that the management of the vice presidency must be evaluated from the issues that concern him, such as food security, transportation, economy, housing, among others.
In the same way, he pointed out that in Guatemala this position is thought of as a “kind of heir” to the presidency, however, this can be dangerous because the person who serves has his own responsibilities.
Vice Presidential
The faces that accompany the 22 presidential candidates do not have the leading role in this electoral campaign, which according to Wong’s analysis is due to the fact that “the political status quo in Guatemala allows more rewards or more support, let’s say, to the figure of the presidential”.
He added that in other campaigns the figure of the vice-presidential candidate had solo spaces when the person was known in other areas to cover more of the electorate, a situation that has not occurred in the current process.
For Palomo, the different profiles that accompany the presidential candidates have given some credibility to the presidential candidates. “Now we have seen that some couples already knew each other before the campaign, this helps build trust and certainty that there will be better communication,” he said.
Expectations
For the new vice president who is elected in the electoral event, there are already certain expectations. According to Ortiz, “we have a very negative expectation, a very low bar, regarding the role of the vice president.”
For the role that the new figure is expected to fulfill, the way in which he arrived at the party must be taken into account. The analyst stressed that the presidential pairings are usually guests of the parties, but not part of them.
Even the presidential candidate is invited by some platform within the group and the vice-presidential candidate by another, which affects the coordination they will have within the Executive.
“We would like a much more active vice presidency, with a communication effort in favor of transparency that can give us information about these councils, departments that it directs and its participation in the Executive,” he pointed out.
He also explained that regardless of whether the vice presidency is media or not, this continues to be subject to the coordination that exists within the binomial that is influenced by the party’s agenda, the nature of the landing in the decade-candidate group, the character of both characters and the reconciliations they reach.
Palomo contributed that it is expected to have a presence in the spaces for dialogue and generation of public policies; greater leadership; teamwork; that it be an accompaniment and support for the president; as well as being more open to the public and giving statements.
For his part, Wong said that the new figure fulfills his duties beyond being in office as a requirement. “Let there be better negotiation, let’s say better decision-making,” he declared.
