Guatemala City, (EFE).- The president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala, Silvia Valdés, launched a new suspension of the officialization of the results of the elections held on June 25, according to a resolution issued on Friday night .
Valdés’s decision, which was issued unilaterally without the rest of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, once again leaves the electoral process in Guatemala up in the air.
Valdés ordered the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to deliver a report on the vote matching procedure that took place from July 4 to 6 within twelve hours.
Said procedure for the second review of the electoral results was a controversial and unprecedented event that took place after the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, decided, on July 1, to protect nine traditional political parties .
Now, the Supreme Court of Guatemala must rule on whether this process was carried out correctly, after receiving legal actions from the government party Vamos and the right-wing Valor y Creo, who seek to challenge alleged inconsistencies committed in the digitization of votes.
An electoral process that has Guatemala in suspense
On Friday, the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Irma Palencia, had declared that “it was irresponsible” to question the legitimacy of the review carried out by the Electoral Boards.
The decision of the courts to suspend the results, according to experts, could have the objective of hindering the electoral process due to the disagreement of groups related to the government in power.
During the review of the elections, the results for the presidency only varied by 0.4 percent, a minimum that does not affect what was expressed by Guatemalan voters at the polls on June 25.
In the absence of a final resolution, the second electoral round is scheduled for August 20, between the progressive academic Bernardo Arévalo De León, from the Seed Movement, and the former first lady, from the National Unity of Hope, Sandra Torres Casanova.