The presidential candidate Jimmy Morales (C) arrives at a polling station to cast his vote in Guatemala City, capital of Guatemala, on Sept. 6, 2015. Guatemalans on Sunday went to polling booths across Guatemala in hopes of electing a new leader while the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal called on citizens to remain calm and peaceful in the process. (Xinhua/Stringer)
GUATEMALA CITY, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Political outsider Jimmy Morales on Monday looks set to win the first round of Guatemala's presidential elections.
According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), preliminary results showed Morales was leading the field of 14 candidates, and it only remains to be seen who would run against him in an upcoming runoff on Oct. 25.
"So far, we cannot say which candidate will accompany Jimmy Morales into a second electoral round," the TSE said via Twitter.
With 97.94 percent of the polling stations counted, the actor and producer, candidate of the National Convergence Front party (FCN), was leading with 23.93 percent of the votes.
Congressman and businessman Manuel Baldizon, of the Renewed Democratic Party (LIDER) and Sandra Torres, ex-wife of former president Alvaro Colom (2008-2012) and candidate of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, were virtually tied for second place with 19.60 percent and 19.62 percent, respectively.
Since no candidate got more than 50 percent in Sunday's poll, the top two contenders will compete in October.
"Nearly 70.3 percent of Guatemalans went to the polls. A historic figure not seen since 1986," the TSE said.
Sunday's elections were also "the least violent" since the mid-1980s, the electoral body said.
Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre, however, reported the killing of a minor local official, as well as clashes between rival political parties, roadblocks and the burning of ballots in several small towns around the country.
"National Civil Police (PNC) sources reported incidents in different towns, where residents are unhappy with the outcome of Sunday's general elections," the daily said.
In Yupiltepeque, Jutiapa, for example, the reelected councilman, Juan Yanes Lopez, was killed in an attack as he was traveling with his family, the daily said.
In the town of Siquinala, Escuintla, meanwhile, residents discontent with the results of the mayoral race "occupied city hall late Sunday ... and set fire to it," leading PNC officers to intervene, the daily said.
Morales, a relative political novice, became the favorite out of a field of 14 candidates with a simple slogan: "Neither corrupt, nor a thief," a message that went to the heart of the problems convulsing the Central American country.
The FCN has been criticized for having close ties to the military, a sensitive issue in a country that was roiled by civil war for more than 30 years, but Morales has denied the charge.
According to a profile on a movie-making site, the 46-year-old studied communications and business administration before going into show business with his brother Sammy. The two have hosted a long-running TV comedy program called "Moralejas," a word that refers both to their family surname and to the moral of a story. Morales has also produced and acted in a string of movies.
Prior to running for president, he made an unsuccessful attempt at becoming mayor of the small town of Mixco, in the department of Guatemala, in 2011. He came in third, but went on to be elected the secretary general of the FCN in 2013.
