The Constitutional Court (CC) This Monday, he received a complaint against the Public Ministry (MP) for failing to comply with an injunction that protects the presidential elections.
The lawyers consider that the MP has failed to comply with an injunction issued on October 7 by the CC itself. This ordered respecting the result of the presidential elections in which Bernardo Arévalo, Semilla’s candidate, won.
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The MP has requested to annul the entire electoral process and thus prevent Arévalo’s inauguration. This has been criticized nationally and internationally. This is because the accusations are considered unfounded and there have even been warnings of an attempted coup d’état.
“We are going to ask for assistance for the due execution of the protection because we were granted provisional protection on October 7, when the Constitutional Court said that it urged all bodies to respect the alternation in power and the electoral results,” constitutional lawyer Edgar Ortiz explained in statements collected by the Prensa Comunitaria portal.
“In this protection, the CC recognized the threat to the democratic order and the alternation of power,” said Ortiz, who asks the Constitutional Court for “legal action to request that the electoral results be respected.”
#NoAlCoupOfState 📢 Amparistas ask the CC to guarantee protection of the elections
Faced with the attempted coup d’état, a group of lawyers asked the Supreme Court for assistance in the due execution of the constitutional protection of the electoral results that… pic.twitter.com/svsOmkC4d7
— Km169 Community Press (@PrensaComunitar) December 11, 2023
Ortiz emphasizes that the MP has no competition in the electoral field. And, that “the MP also does not have the power to ask the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to annul the elections.” This happened just as it happened last Friday, which would have violated the opinion of the October CC.
Former Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz has also warned that neither the MP nor the Attorney Generals have the power to declare the electoral records “null and void.”
Along the same lines, the former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), Juan Francisco Sandoval, emphasizes that the MP does not have the power to decide on electoral issues. Also, warn you that they could have committed illegal acts when trying to do so, such as abuse of authority because they would be using their position for their own benefit or that of a third party.
Likewise, they could be accused of usurpation of functions for assuming powers that only correspond to the TSE. Even non-compliance with the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala. This is due to the alleged alteration of the constitutional order, according to Sandoval.
In October, the TSE made official the electoral results of the second round of the Guatemalan presidential elections on August 20. Bernardo Arévalo, from the Semilla Movement, won the elections, thus ending the electoral process.
However, the Public Ministry has requested the annulment of the entire electoral process due to alleged irregularities by the Semilla Movement and thus intends to prevent Arévalo from taking office on January 14.
