Guatemala progressive’s presidential victory certified, but his party is suspended
GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s top electoral tribunal declared progressive Bernardo Arévalo the winner of the country’s presidential election on Monday, but the prospect of him taking office on Jan. 14 was uncertain after another government body suspended all activities by his Seed Movement party.
No authority has explained exactly what the suspension, confirmed by the party’s lawyer, will mean for the president-elect.
The move comes after one of the most tumultuous elections in the Central American nation’s recent history, which has put Guatemala’s democracy to the test.
At a time that Guatemalans, hungry for change, have grown disillusioned with endemic corruption, Arévalo and other competitors of the country’s elite faced waves of judicial attacks in an attempt to knock them out of the race.
Preliminary results show a potential landslide victory for anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo, in a rebuke of Guatemala’s governing elite.
Arévalo, the little-known son of a former president, shocked much of the country by emerging as a front-runner after the first round of presidential voting in June. He failed to get enough support to win outright and headed to a runoff vote against former first lady Sandra Torres. His rise came after a handful of other candidates were disqualified.
Arévalo rapidly gained support as he posed a threat to the country’s elite, campaigning on social progress and railing against corruption.
The message, he said in June, “aroused hope, mobilized people who were fed up with corruption.”
He easily beat Torres in the Aug. 20 presidential runoff. According to the official count, the progressive candidate obtained 60.9% of the valid votes cast against 37.2% for the right-wing Torres.
Fearing democracy is at risk, Guatemalans are posting certified election forms on social media to show there wasn’t fraud in the presidential vote.
His win has been the source of a legal back-and-forth between various governmental entities and courts, some staffed with officials that have been sanctioned by the United States on charges of corruption. He has faced allegations of voter fraud by Torres, legal challenges and more.
U.S. officials are warning Guatemala’s powerful military, political and business forces of the danger of subverting democracy ahead of Sunday’s presidential run-off election in the Central American country.
Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal outranks the electoral registry so the victory by Arévalo and the seats won in parliament by Seed Movement lawmakers in the first round their party’s suspension is unclear.
Guatemala’s attorney general’s office had opened an investigation into the Seed Movement over allegations of irregularities in the gathering of signatures for its formation as a party. The electoral registry on Monday suspended the party.
The Seed Party now has three days to challenge the suspension and, in that case, the issue would be elevated to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which initially called the race for Arévalo.
Arrest warrants for electoral officials and raids of the party’s headquarters have caused concern in the international community and among Guatemalans.
This week, the Organization of American States’ human rights commission asked that Guatemala provide protection for Arévalo after reports emerged of a possible plot to kill him.
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