October 26, 2015
ALL COMEDY IS CONSERVATIVE:
No joke: Guatemalan comedian wins presidency in landslide (ALEXANDRA ALPER AND ENRIQUE PRETEL, October 25, 2015, Reuters)
Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the country's political establishment.The 46-year-old Morales overwhelmingly beat center-left rival and former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off vote despite his lack of government experience and some policy ideas that strike many as eccentric.The headquarters of Morales' center-right National Convergence Front (FCN) party erupted in celebration as official returns showed he had around 68 percent support in a landslide victory. [...]The election is a wake-up call to the impoverished Central American country's established parties, which have been shaken by investigations led by the Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the U.N.-backed anti-corruption body.The CICIG's probe toppled Perez and has prompted calls for similar bodies elsewhere in Central America.Morales, a former theology student with socially conservative leanings, has applauded CICIG's work and vowed to extend its remit.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 26, 2015 12:52 PM
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