Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on Monday suspended, at the request of a judge, the Semilla party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, who is due to take office on January 14 after the body also formalized the victory of the social -democrat.
“The General Directorate of the Citizens Register (…) decides to temporarily suspend the registration as a legal person of the Committee for the Constitution of the political party Movimiento Semilla,” reads the resolution of the Electoral Court.
Mr. Arévalo described this resolution as “absolutely illegal”, noting however that the TSE had only followed the order of the judge at the request of the prosecution. “There is a process of political persecution” against him and his party, he said.
After the first round of presidential elections on June 25, Judge Fredy Orellana had already ordered the TSE, at the request of prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, to suspend Semilla and investigate alleged anomalies regarding the registration of members during its formation in 2017.
The United States considers MM. Orellana and Curruchiche “corrupt”.
Guatemala, where 60% of the population lives in poverty, is one of the 30 most corrupt countries in the world according to the NGO Transparency International and Bernardo Arévalo has made the fight against corruption one of his horses. battle.
The TSE had not followed the first order of the judge on the grounds that it is impossible to suspend a party in the middle of the electoral process.
The Constitutional Court of Guatemala then guaranteed the holding of the second round on the scheduled date between the two qualified candidates, Mr. Arévalo and Sandra Torres.
On August 20, Bernardo Arévalo emerged as the clear winner with more than 60% of the vote. His opponent, herself seen as a corrupt person by many Guatemalans, denounced an alleged “fraud” during the election.
On Monday, the director of the register of citizens, Ramiro Muñoz, this time complied with the order of judge Orellana, justifying that the electoral process was over.
In a statement, the Organization of American States (OAS) considered that Semilla’s suspension constituted an “abusive interpretation of the law” without “any basis or duly demonstrated reason”.
According to lawyers, the suspension of Semilla has no consequence on the entry into office of Mr. Arévalo.
On the other hand, it can affect party members in Congress and prevent them, for example, from chairing parliamentary committees.
On the sidelines of the announcement of Semilla’s suspension, the TSE formalized the results of the second round giving Mr. Arévalo the winner.
His four-year term is due to start on January 14, said TSE General Secretary Mario Velasquez.
Almost unknown a few months before the ballot, Bernardo Arévalo was brought to light by the prosecutor Curruchiche who launched a crusade against him and his party in order to have him disqualified, without success.
The proceedings brought against the Social Democrat have both eclipsed the campaign of his opponent and aroused a feeling of solidarity among voters, in the face of a very discredited institution in the country.
“In Guatemala, we are witnessing the last thrusts of the corrupt system that co-opted public institutions for decades and is now using the judicial system illegally against Semilla,” party councilor Nino Matute told AFP. in the capital.
“They are pushing citizens’ resistance to the limit, which could easily lead to a social explosion that we don’t want in Guatemala,” she said.
“We Guatemalans deserve a better country and to celebrate together this new spring which, today and by popular decision, is represented by Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera, president and vice-president” confirmed by the TSE, highlighted Mrs Mattute.
The lawsuits against Semilla, led by the prosecution of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, also considered by Washington to be “corrupt”, have led to several demonstrations demanding her resignation.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court rejected a request by Ms Porras which sought to stop the protests and the publication on social networks of messages asking for her resignation. According to the Attorney General, these were acts of “obstruction of justice” limiting “the exercise of criminal proceedings”.
29/08/2023 10:24:03 – Guatemala (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
