The United States expressed “deep concern” on Sunday about the political situation in Guatemala, after a decision by the Constitutional Court (CC) of the Central American country to suspend the officialization of the results of the June 25 general elections.
Washington said undermining the election would be a serious threat to democracy “with far-reaching implications.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Sunday that Washington supports the right of the Guatemalan people to choose their leaders through “free and fair elections, and is deeply concerned about efforts that interfere with the outcome of the elections”.
The CC agreed to an amparo request from nine political parties that participated in the Guatemalan electoral process to suspend the officialization of results so that a second hearing to review the ballots can be held.
In addition, the Court also ordered the contested records to be compared with those that were entered into the computer system and added that, if necessary, a new count be made.
“Actions to interfere with the outcome of the elections violate the spirit of the Guatemalan Constitution and threaten the legitimacy of its democratic process,” the US government said. “Undermining the June 25 elections would be a serious threat to democracy with far-reaching implications.
Following the CC’s decision, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said that the electoral process had “modern and scientific technological and logistical tools to protect the country’s democratic regime”, but that, in compliance with the ruling, it announced that it “suspends the qualification and officialization of the results” of the elections.
For its part, the Guatemalan government issued a statement on Sunday in which it called for respect for the doctrine of international relations on the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs, adding that its principle of sovereignty was unyielding.
The European Union, together with the embassies of Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Sweden, released a statement calling on “the institutions of Guatemala and the political parties to respect the integrity of the electoral process and the will of the citizens clearly manifested in the elections.
For its part, the observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) expressed that the CC’s order for an additional review and comparison of the records is a process that is not contemplated in Guatemalan law.
“The mission reiterates that the acts that have given rise to questioning represent isolated cases that do not alter the preferences expressed at the polls for the second presidential round,” the agency said in a press release.
“The mission wishes to emphasize that some of the political parties that are now seeking, through amparo, to challenge the electoral results, were precisely the ones that had the greatest presence of prosecutors at the polling stations on June 25,” the OAS added. .
Both the EU, the OAS and the US government have reiterated that the process reflected the will of the citizenry.
“The resolution of the CC contemplates the possibility of challenge, even in instances where no observation was raised at the table, opening the possibility of questioning the process in a more general way and of sowing doubts where there are none,” the OAS stressed. .
Among the parties and candidates that presented the amparo and that did not reach more than 8% of the preferences are some of the favorites in the polls, such as Edmond Mulet, for the Cabal party, the pro-government Manuel Conde, Zury Ríos — daughter of the former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, prosecuted for genocide — from the Valor-Unionista coalition, as well as the center-right National Unity of Hope (UNE) party and its candidate, former first lady Sandra Torres.
None of the 22 presidential binomials that participated in the general elections reached 50% of the valid votes. The Electoral and Political Parties Law establishes that, if the necessary votes are not reached, a second electoral round will be held between the parties in first and second place.
Torres, reached 15.8% of the votes and the second round will be held with the candidate of the Movimiento Semilla party, the leftist Bernardo Arévalo, who finished with 11.7% of the preference.
On Sunday afternoon, Arévalo filed three legal appeals before the CC in which he asks to be able to participate in the requested amparo, clarify and expand the constitutional ruling, and another appeal to revoke the provisional amparo granted.
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