The Superior Electoral Court of Guatemala announced in a press release on Sunday July 2 that it will comply with the decision made the day before by the Constitutional Court by suspending ” qualification and formalization of the results” of the first round of the presidential elections on 25 June.
The Constitutional Court had been seized on Friday by nine right-wing parties, including that of the outgoing president, Alejandro Giammattei, Vamos. This formation invoked a “risk and imminent threat” to see the positions distributed before the alleged “vices” of the vote are brought to the attention of electoral commissions, according to the Court.
The country’s highest court then requested the summons of“a new vote review hearing”. In addition to the first round of presidential elections (the second of which is scheduled for August 20), legislative and municipal elections were held on the same day.
Disputes the day after the vote
To everyone’s surprise, two Social Democrats found themselves leading the twenty-two presidential candidates in the first round, marked by strong abstention and a large number of invalid ballots.
Favorite in the polls and candidate failed several times, Sandra Torres, ex-wife of the former leftist president Alvaro Colom (2008-2012), obtained 15.86% of the votes. Deputy Bernardo Arevalo, son of the first democratically elected president of the country, Juan José Arevalo (1945-1951), created the surprise with 11.77%. He finished eighth with 2.9% of voting intentions in the latest Prodatos Institute poll.
These results marked a break after three consecutive right-wing presidencies: Otto Perez (2012-2015), Jimmy Morales (2016-2020) and the outgoing president, Alejandro Giammattei.
The disputes and the denunciation of alleged electoral fraud began the day after the first round. “Elections need to be rerun”asked on Friday the lawyer of the Valor (courage) party, formed by Zury Rios, daughter of the former dictator Efrain Rios Montt (1982-1983) and who finished sixth in the first round. This party has denounced a “fraud” with the presumed change of one thousand minutes, or 0.82% of the total.
“Threat to Democracy”
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he questioned electoral representations in Guatemala “a serious threat to democracy with far-reaching implications”. “The measures aimed at interfering with the outcome of the elections violate the spirit of the Guatemalan constitution and threaten the legitimacy of the democratic process”claimed.
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The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission called, in a statement, “the judicial institutions and the political parties respect the clear will of the citizens freely expressed during the elections of 25 June”. On 27 June, two days after the vote, the EU warned against “the deterioration of the rule of law and the legalization of electoral events for purely political purposes”pointing out “the strong commitment of citizens to democracy and civic values”.
For its part, the Organization of American States (OAS) called “the powers of the State, legislative, judicial and executive, to respect the separation of powers, the integrity of the electoral process, as well as the work and conclusions carried out in this process”. “Respect for the expression of the people through voting is essential to maintain the full confidence of citizens and the international community in voting”the regional organization added in a statement.
Guatemala is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America, judges the World Bank, with 10.3 million of its 17.6 million inhabitants living below the poverty line and one in two children suffers from chronic malnutrition, according to the United Nations.
