2023-07-13 16:14:36
Seed Movement presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo talks with reporters on the third day of an official review of electoral records in Guatemala City, Thursday, July 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Moisés Castillo)
Presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León assured that despite the suspension of his left-wing political party, Movimiento Semilla, he will participate in the ballot following the results of the first electoral round.
“Today, following a long wait, we can announce to the people of Guatemala that we are officially starting the path of the second round,” Arévalo said at a press conference.
These statements were made in the midst of a search carried out by the Guatemalan Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) at the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
The MP ordered this Wednesday the suspension of the Semilla group, which advanced to the second presidential round in the Central American country at the hands of its candidate, Bernardo Arévalo de León.
“Neither the Public Ministry nor the Court have the capacity to suspend the legal personality of a political party,” said Arévalo in the middle of his statements to the media.
The candidate said that he will “categorically and absolutely” support the decision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
The highest electoral body of the Central American country validated Arévalo de León as a participant in the second presidential round.
The officialization of the results by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal was pending following the Constitutional Court, the highest court of the Central American country, ordered a new review of the electoral records on July 1, which took place from July 4 to 6. of July.
The Guatemalan electoral process was widely marked prior to the elections by the suspension of three candidacies with the possibility of winning the presidential elections.
After the validation of Arévalo by the TSE, to go to the ballot, the headquarters of the electoral entity was raided by the MP, which raises uncertainty regarding the elections in the Central American country, since the Prosecutor’s Office seeks Seed suspension.
Members of the Guatemalan Attorney General’s office and National Police officers raid the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) building following a court ordered the suspension of the Semilla political party of anti-corruption presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Guatemala, on July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin
“The Special Prosecutor’s Office once morest Impunity is carrying out search, inspection, registration and seizure of evidence proceedings,” the Public Ministry said on Thursday through its official communication accounts.
The raid took place at the entity’s headquarters, in the center of Guatemala City, and, according to official sources, the prosecutors entered the Political Organizations section of the court.
The head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, sanctioned by the United States in 2022 on charges of creating false cases once morest ex-authorities, reported on the accusation in a video message on Wednesday.
Curruchiche indicated that the accusation is due to a case called “Seed Corruption”, for alleged false signatures.
The decision of the Public Ministry is unprecedented in the context of elections in the Central American country and, according to various social organizations and various sectors, it is an attempted “electoral coup” similar to a “coup d’état.”
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Semilla of alleged illegal electoral financing and the use of false signatures and for this reason the seventh criminal court ordered its suspension.
This court is the same one that was in charge of one of the cases once morest the journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, in prison since July 29, 2022, just five days following launching strong criticism of the president’s inner circle, Alejandro Giammattei.
Arévalo de León had managed to advance to the runoff following surprisingly obtaining second place in the elections on June 25, behind former first lady Sandra Torres, while polls placed him in seventh or eighth place.
(With information from EFE)
Keep reading:
Elections in Guatemala: Sandra Torres demanded that the ballot date be respected despite the suspension of the rival partyThe Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office raids the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal following the suspension of a party that advanced to the ballot
1689274189
#suspension #Semilla #party #Bernardo #Arévalo #assured #participate #Guatemalan #presidential #ballot
