Guatemalan president calls on citizens to vote

    GUATEMALA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Guatemalan President Oscar Berger cast his ballot on Sunday at an electoral booth in southern Guatemala City in a second round to elect the country's next president while calling on the country's citizens also to vote.

    Berger, whose 4-year presidential term will conclude on Jan. 14said on Friday that "citizen participation is very important" and they are fighting "so that the next government is successful without losing a minute in its fight against insecurity, attack poverty and giving a good example" that Guatemala is a democratic country with many development opportunities.

    "This is democracy's best tool and the sixth time a president is going to be elected in the democratic era" of Guatemala, Berger said.

    The voting booths opened throughout Guatemala at 07:00 local (12:00 GMT) and will close at 18:00 local hours (24:00 GMT).

    Guatemala's presidency is being contended on Friday by textile entrepreneur Alvaro Colom, of the central wing National Unity Hope(UNE) party and retired general Otto Perez from the right wing Patriotic Party (PP).

    Social-democratic candidate Colom and right-wing candidate Perez were the two candidates that received most votes in Guatemala's Sept. 9 first round presidential elections, with 25.62percent and 21.35 percent of the votes respectively.

    Guatemala has some 5.99 million registered voters but only 60 percent voted in the first round.