Guatemala City (EFE).- The Movimiento Semilla, an opposition party, filed an appeal this Sunday against the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Silvia Valdés, due to a unilateral resolution that left the results of the general elections of the past June 25.
“We went to the Constitutional Court because President Valdés made mistakes in her last resolution,” Juan Guerrero, Semilla’s national prosecutor, told reporters during the presentation of a memorial.
According to said party, Valdés’s decision, published last Friday night, intends to suspend the adjudication of public office and the development of the second electoral round on August 20.
“In addition, the president could not make a unilateral decision that was not supported by the rest of the magistrates,” Guerrero said.
The results have been on hold since July 1, when the Constitutional Court issued a controversial and unprecedented resolution that forced a second comparison of the votes at the national level.
Valdés’ resolution indicates that the Supreme Court of Justice must examine whether the results review process was carried out correctly, due to a series of legal resources issued by conservative parties.
Semilla’s presidential candidate, progressive academic Bernardo Arévalo De León, qualified for the ballot in Guatemala, after finishing second in the June 25 elections.
elections without variations
The recount, which took place from July 4 to 6, ended without major changes, confirming Arévalo de León’s pass along with former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova to the second round of elections.
According to experts and analysts, the legal resources and the intervention of the courts are aimed at hindering the electoral process, due to the surprising advance of Arévalo De León, a candidate who has offered to curb corruption in the country.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal defended the task carried out by the Electoral Boards in reviewing the results and, pending some internal procedures, together with the resolution of the courts, it could make the results official in the following days.
If the results become official, Torres Casanova and Arévalo De León will have to compete for the presidency for the period 2024-2028, on August 20.
The candidate Torres, concerned
The presidential candidate and former first lady of Guatemala Sandra Torres Casanova expressed this Sunday her “concern” about a “judicialization” of the country’s general elections, after the suspension of the officialization of results.
“We are concerned that 15 days after the first round of elections, the results have not been made official,” Torres said during a press conference held in the department (province) of Huehuetenango, located in northwestern Guatemala.
Torres added that there is a “judicialization” of the process and that he fears that “the elections will be stolen” for “some political interest that wants the ballot to not take place.”