A department of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala announced on Monday the “provisional” suspension of the Seed Movement, a social democratic formation headed by the president-elect on August 20 at the polls, Bernardo Arévalo de León.
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The measure was ordered by the Citizens Registry, belonging to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, after that body made official the results of the presidential elections and certified the victory of Arévalo de León, whose inauguration is scheduled for January 14.
The president-elect has rejected the decision of the Registry of Citizens: “This is an illegal resolution due to the judicial persecution led by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) and the seventh criminal judge Fredy Orellana”, declared Arévalo de León, during a press conference offered last night in Guatemala City, according to Agencia EFE.
He also assured that this resolution “is null and void” and “will fall by itself.” Her vice president, Karin Herrera, announced in the same appearance that the legal team of the Seed Movement will present an appeal for annulment on Tuesday to stop the suspension.
According to the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the political party has three days to appeal the decision, since they will not act ex officio because it is not their responsibility, according to what they said after hearing the decision of the Citizens’ Registry. The magistrates disassociated themselves from the order sent by one of their officials to suspend the Seed Movement, according to EFE.
The magistrates have assured that Arévalo de León will be president on January 14 for a period of four years: “The citizens said so at the polls and we are guaranteeing it,” said yesterday the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Irma Palencia.
According to political analysts and based on Guatemalan law, the provisional suspension of the Movimiento Semilla could cause problems for its representatives in Congress, who could have problems exercising certain functions as deputies.
The son of former president Álvaro Arzú (1996-2000), the candidate Roberto Arzú García-Granados, had warned weeks ago of a plan to suspend the Seed Movement and thus prevent Arévalo de León from taking office.
Arzú García-Granados, whose electoral candidacy was “illegally” suspended in his opinion, had denounced a “strategy” that involves suspending the Arévalo de León party and creating the conditions for the current president, Alejandro Giammattei, to hand over the power to Congress, where his party, Vamos, has a majority.
The suspension request had been extended since July 12 for an alleged case of false signatures that would have been committed during the creation of the Seed Movement in 2018, investigated by prosecutors sanctioned by the United States Department of State for “undermining” the justice in Guatemala.
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) has considered this Tuesday “without any foundation or duly demonstrated reason” and “an abusive interpretation of the law” the decision to suspend the party.
At the same time, he has made a new call to cease the “actions that erode the rule of law” in Guatemala and has highlighted “the importance of abiding by democratic principles and respect for the will of the citizenry”, expressed at the polls the last day 20.
According to Arévalo de León, the suspension “has no validity” because “only the Supreme Electoral Tribunal can order the suspension and under the established legal precepts.”
“Nothing can legally prevent us from taking office on January 14, 2024 as established in the Constitution,” the president-elect promised.
