Supporters of Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arévalo of the Movimiento Semilla party in a file photograph. EFE/Esteban Biba
Guatemala City (EFE).- The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala revoked this Sunday the suspension of the Movimiento Semilla party, with which the academic Bernardo Arévalo de León won the Presidency on August 20.
The decision was made official through a memorial in which they keep the Arévalo de León party alive while the electoral process is in force, and also urge the three powers of the State to “respect the popular will expressed at the polls.”
The Movimiento Semilla party was suspended on August 28 by the Registrar of Citizens of the same Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and said ruling gave way to the Congressional Board of Directors disregarding the Arévalo de León party two days later.
Guatemala, pending the Seed Movement
The revocation of the suspension was signed on Saturday by the five chief magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, who initially on August 28 had disassociated themselves from the decision of the Registrar of Citizens, one of the officials under their charge in the entity.
The original reason for the suspension of the Seed Movement is an order from the seventh criminal judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).
Due to the suspension of the party, the president-elect, Bernardo Arévalo de León, assured on Friday that Guatemala is in a “coup d’état” with the aim of avoiding his inauguration next January.
Arévalo de León pointed to the attorney general and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras, as one of the main promoters of the aforementioned “coup d’état”, together with prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, the Board of Directors of Congress, Judge Orellana and “other actors corrupt”.
Criminal prosecution since July
The president-elect of the Movimiento Semilla party accused the Public Ministry for the persecution against the political group since July 12, after surprisingly obtaining second place in the general elections on June 25.
Said criminal prosecution has included raids on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the headquarters of the Seed Movement itself, for an alleged case of false signatures in the creation of the party in 2018.
Arévalo de León explained on Friday that “the group of corrupt politicians and officials, who refuse to accept this result, have launched a plan to break the constitutional order and violate democracy.”
According to the current deputy, said “coup d’état” is carried out “step by step, through spurious, illegitimate, and illegal actions, in different instances,” with which they seek to “prevent the inauguration of elected authorities, including the president.
The academic called on the entire population “to join forces in defense of democracy and unrestricted respect for the popular will” to “defeat the coup forces that seek to keep us submerged in corruption, impunity and poverty.”
On Saturday, thousands of Guatemalan citizens protested in the center of the capital against Porras and the Public Ministry.
The inauguration of Arévalo de León is scheduled for next January 14, replacing the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.
