Uncertainty reigns in Guatemala after the suspension of the Movimiento Semilla party

In the span of 60 chaotic minutes, Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Court this Wednesday officially declared the advancement of former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova and academic Bernardo Aréval de León to the vote (second round) on August 20, a decision that has 17 days for judicial appeals.

However, almost at the same time, the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) reported that Aréval de León’s party, Movimiento Semilla (which came second in the June 25 presidential election) was criminally canceled by order of a judge of the Guatemalan judicial body.

“We are not informed or we do not know. We were in a plenary meeting and at this moment we are not aware of the scope of the resolution,” said Irma Palencia, president of the court, regarding the possible suspension of Semilla.

Therefore, the Supreme Electoral Court announced that it is not currently aware of this set the second presidential round for the next August 20as provided by the election calendar.

“Today the news is that the results of the second round are official,” added judge Gabriel Aguilera when asked by reporters what will happen to Semilla.

Within 24 hours

The State Department investigation, which may leave the election up in the air, was led by US-sanctioned prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche in 2022, accused of fabricating false cases against former authorities.

According to the criminal court’s decision, which was reported by local media, the Supreme Electoral Court has 24 hours to comply with the decision to suspend Semilla or face charges of disobeying the law. However, according to other constitutional and electoral experts, Guatemala’s electoral regulations also stipulate that no party can be canceled while an election is in progress.

Curruchiche indicated that the decision was made due to a case called “Semen Spoilage”, for allegedly forging signatures, in an unprecedented charge in GuatemalaAs local and international sectors have warned in recent weeks, courts and the judiciary should not interfere with poll results.

The court that suspended Semilla is the same one that had jurisdiction over one of the cases against the journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, in prison since July 29, 2022, just five days after he made strong criticisms of the president’s inner circle, Alejandro Giammattei.

Arévalo de León made it to the second round after surprisingly finishing second in the June 25 election, behind former first lady Sandra Torres. The officialization of the results was awaited after the Constitutional Court, the highest court of that Central American country, on July 1 ordered a new audit of the election data, which was held from July 4 to 6.

Meanwhile, around 200 people gathered in front of the court condemn the alleged “coup d’état” after seed suspension.