Guatemala began its first presidential election on November 7 after the signing of peace accords in 1996 which ended the 36-year civil war.

On Sunday, many Guatemalans went to voting booths to cast their ballots for a new president, new congress members and 330 mayors.

During the voting, while most Guatemalans said they wish the government to continue implementing the peace accords, most are more concerned about their subsistence.

Some 800 international observers and 2,000 local observers were in Guatemala City to supervise the elections when more than 17,000 policemen and 12,000 army troops were deployed at the ballot boxes to guarantee the transparency of the elections.

So far no violence has been reported.

The electoral authorities expected about 4.46 million eligible Guatemalans to take part in the polls.

Under the electoral law, the presidential candidate winning at least 51 percent of the votes will be the elected president who will take office on January 14, 2000.

If none of them gets the absolute majority, the top two will continue a runoff on December 26.

Alfonso Portillo, candidate of the rightist Guatemalan Republican Front (FGR), is the front runner followed by Oscar Berger of the ruling National Advanced Party (PAN), and Alvaro Colom of the New Nation Alliance (ANN).