The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala validated this Wednesday Bernardo Arévalo and Sandra Torres as official candidates for the second presidential round. That same day, a court ordered the suspension of the legal status of the Semilla de Arévalo party, creating uncertainty about the ballot on August 20.
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“The Seventh Court of the criminal instance ordered the suspension of the legal status of the political party Movimiento Semilla,” announced this Wednesday, July 12, Rafael Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI). The court requests the disqualification of the party of presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo.
Guatemalan law, however, specifies that “a party may not be suspended after an election has been called and until it has been held.”
Shortly after, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal made official the passage of Arévalo and his rival Sandra Torres to the presidential runoff to be held on August 20.
“The UNE party (National Unity for Hope of Torres) and the Seed movement are already in the position to start their campaign,” declared the president of the TSE, Irma Palencia.
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“Threats from the Public Ministry”
“No order from a small prosecutor associated with corruption is above the people of Guatemala, who strongly demonstrated at the polls. We are in the second round and that is what we are going to abide by”, the representative of Semilla Samuel Pérez reacted to the press.
Prosecutor Curruchiche, sanctioned by Washington for persecuting former anti-corruption prosecutors, justified the measure against Semilla for alleged irregularities in the collection of signatures for its legalization.
“We welcome the TSE’s certification of the electoral results of the first round,” the head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Brian Nichols, wrote on his Twitter account. “However, we are deeply concerned by the new threats from the public ministry to Guatemala’s electoral democracy,” he added.
