July 13, 2023
Guatemalan social organizations urge the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to ignore the judicial resolution against Semilla.
Several social organizations in Guatemala denounced an attempted electoral coup, after the decision of the Public Ministry to suspend the political party Semilla, of candidate Bernardo Arévalo who is the elected candidate to face former first lady Sandra Torres, in the second round of elections.
The organizations Transparencia Internacional, Acción Ciudadana and La Red Nacional de Comisiones y Colectivos Ciudadanos por la Transparencia y Probidad, among others, stated in a communiqué that the decision to suspend the political party Semilla is “illegal” and urged the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to “ignore” the judicial resolution.
According to the different social entities, the objective of the criminal suspension of Semilla is to consummate an electoral coup equivalent to a coup d’état.
The document was disclosed after the Attorney General’s Office announced the suspension of Semilla, at the same time that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) made official the results of the elections of June 25.
The TSE confirmed the advancement of candidate Sandra Torres and Semilla’s presidential aspirant, Bernardo Arévalo to the runoff scheduled for August 20.
After learning of the decision of the Public Ministry, candidate Bernardo Arévalo expressed on Twitter: “This is not for us or for Semilla, it is for the whole country. The powerful no longer want the people to freely decide their future, but we are going to defeat them. The seed of change and hope will not be trampled.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office informed that the criminal suspension of the Semilla party was ordered by a judge of the Guatemalan Judicial Organism, at its request.
According to the judicial resolution, the TSE has 24 hours to obey the ruling against Semilla or else it could be accused of not complying with the law.
Source: Cuba en Resumen