The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, on Saturday ordered the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to temporarily suspend the officialization of the June 25 results.
It had been seized on Friday by nine right-wing parties including that of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei, Vamos.
The formation invoked a “risk and an imminent threat” to see posts distributed before the alleged “vices” of the ballot were brought to the attention of the electoral commissions, according to the Court.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced in a statement on Sunday that it would abide by the court’s decision and “suspend the qualification and formalization of the election results”.
In addition to the first round of the presidential election (the second round of which is scheduled for August 20), legislative and municipal elections were held on the same day.
To everyone’s surprise, two social democrats found themselves at the head of the 22 presidential candidates in the first round, marked by high abstention and a large number of invalid ballots.
A break after three successive right-wing presidencies: Otto Perez (2012-2015), Jimmy Morales (2016-2020 and outgoing president Alejandro Giammattei.
Favorite in the polls and unsuccessful candidate several times before, Sandra Torres, ex-wife of former left-wing president Alvaro Colom (2008-2012), obtained 15.86% of the vote.
MP Bernardo Arevalo, son of the country’s first democratically elected president, Juan José Arevalo (1945-1951), surprised everyone with 11.77%. He was placed in 8th position with 2.9% of voting intentions in the latest poll by the Prodatos Institute.
The Constitutional Court requested the convening of “a new vote review hearing”.
The disputes and the denunciation of alleged fraud in the elections had begun the day after the first round.
Soldiers stand guard in front of the Electoral Process Operations Center as the country’s highest court ordered to suspend the officialization of the result of the 1st round of the presidential election, July 2, 2023 in GuatemalaPHOTO AFP / Orlando ESTRADA
“The elections must be redone”, demanded Friday the lawyer of the party Valor (courage), formation of Zury Rios, daughter of the ex-dictator Efrain Rios Montt (1982-1983) and arrived sixth in the first round. This party denounced a “fraud” with the supposed modification of a thousand minutes or 0.82% of the total.
– Respect the will of the citizens –
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the questioning of the elections in Guatemala represents “a serious threat to democracy with far-reaching implications”.
“Measures intended to interfere in the outcome of the elections violate the spirit of Guatemala’s constitution and threaten the legitimacy of the democratic process,” he argued.
The electoral observation mission of the European Union as well as the Organization of American States (OAS) also called for respecting the will of the voters.
In a statement, the EU mission called on “judicial institutions and political parties to respect the clear will of citizens freely expressed in the June 25 elections”.
On June 27, two days after the vote, the EU warned against “the deterioration of the rule of law and the judicialization of electoral events for purely political purposes”, stressing “the strong commitment of citizens to the democracy and civic values”.
The OAS called on “the powers of the state, legislative, judicial and executive, to respect the separation of powers, the integrity of the electoral process, as well as the work and conclusions made in this process”.
Voters at a polling station in San Juan Sacatepequez, June 25, 2023 in GuatemalaPHOTO AFP / Luis ACOSTA
“Respect for the expression of the people through the vote is essential to maintain the full confidence of citizens and the international community in the ballot,” added the regional organization in a press release.
Guatemala is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America, judges the World Bank, with 10.3 million of its 17.6 million inhabitants living below the poverty line and one in two children suffering from chronic undernutrition according to the UN.
2023-07-02 17:30:00
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