Party Switching in Guatemala

One of the reasons why Guatemalans have such low confidence in their political parties and congress is that the people that they elect do not end up representing them for very long.

In Guatemala, voters mark their ballots for one of the twenty or so political parties competing for national elections. The parties have already presented their list of candidates so voters don't actually get to choose individual candidates.

In El Salvador, it's pretty unusual for deputies to switch parties after they've been elected to office.* In Guatemala, it's expected.

Last week the Patriotic Party converted into the largest political bloc in the Guatemalan Congress. While the PP had 29 members elected in 2007, it now has 37. UNE had the most members initially elected (51) but is now down to 34. Even though 51 members made UNE the largest legislative bloc, its members still only accounted for 32% of the congress' 158 members.    

According to the president of the congress, Roberto Alejos, this is pretty normal stuff. It happens every election year as legislators look to integrate into the party that will guarantee their reelection.

While it happens every election cycle, it does nothing to improve citizen confidence in their elected representatives. It does nothing to improve parties and legislators' ability to represent their constituents. It does nothing to help congress pass important legislation.  

It might be pretty typical, but it doesn't do much for Guatemalan's faith in democracy.

*You've had members leave their parties (the ERP-RN deputies who left the FMLN in 1995 and the ARENA deputies that left to form GANA), but they created their own parties rather than join existing ones.