Guatemalan Public Ministry suspends the Semilla party of presidential candidate Arévalo

The political party Semilla, of presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo, was suspended at the request of the Public Ministry for having allegedly affiliated people without their consent, the special prosecutor against impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, said on Wednesday.

The surprise announcement comes just when the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, TSE, is expected to announce the official results later of the first round of the presidential election on June 25, in which Arévalo and the former first lady of Guatemala Sandra Torres were the two leaders, according to preliminary results.

“Given the unusual but foreseeable news, just state that we are analyzing the case with the legal team,” Semilla spokesman Ignacio Laclériga told reporters.

The TSE was expected to announce that Torres and Arévalo would face each other in the August 20 ballot, after political party challenges were resolved.

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