GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 30 — The political party of Guatemalan president-elect Bernardo Arevalo yesterday asked the country’s election court to overturn its decision to suspend the party’s registration.
The day before, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal suspended the Semilla (Seed) Movement at a prosecutor’s request — a move described by Arevalo as political persecution and criticized by Washington and the European Union.
On Tuesday, party lawyer Juan Gerardo Guerrero told reporters Semilla was filing a motion to the tribunal to annul the decision, which he said was based on an “illegal” resolution.
Arevalo, a 64-year-old sociologist and former diplomat, claimed a surprise runaway victory in Guatemala’s August 20 presidential runoff.
He had campaigned against government corruption, and his message appeared to resonate with voters seeking fresh faces in power.
Ahead of the vote, prosecutors tried to suspend Semilla and ordered raids against party offices.
After the first round of voting on June 25, Guatemalan judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, ordered the electoral tribunal to suspend Semilla pending an investigation into alleged anomalies in its registration as a party.
Orellana and Curruchiche are both on a US list of “corrupt actors.”
At the time, the court said a party could not be suspended in the middle of an election campaign.
But with voting over, the suspension was confirmed.
Analysts told AFP the move would not prevent Arevalo taking up the presidential reins in January, but would impede his Semilla party’s work in Congress.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington “remains concerned with continued actions by those who seek to undermine Guatemala’s democracy.”
“Such anti-democratic behaviour, including efforts by the public ministry and other actors to suspend the president-elect’s political party and intimidate election authorities, undercuts the clear will of the Guatemalan people,” he said in a statement.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday the bloc was “deeply concerned over persistent attempts to undermine the election results through selective and arbitrary legal and procedural actions,” most recently Semilla’s suspension.
For its part, the Organisation of American States said the move “violates not only all guarantees of due process, but also international standards that guarantee the protection of elected officials and voters, in terms of respect for human rights.”
The moves against Semilla have prompted several protests in Guatemala against Attorney General Consuelo Porras, also considered “corrupt” by Washington.
Arevalo is set to succeed President Alejandro Giammattei, ending 12 years of right-wing rule. — AFP
