GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – A court in Guatemala suspended the party of anti-graft presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo, a prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office said yesterday, throwing into question his place in a second round run-off vote.
But Arevalo, in an interview with CNN, said he would challenge the suspension and it would not exclude him from the race to become president.
“It’s evident that it has no legal substance,” he said, adding Guatemalan law states a political party cannot be suspended in the middle of an election.
“In no way will we obey a spurious and illegal decision like the one issued by that court.”
Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche said earlier in a video posted on Twitter that investigations showed irregularities in the registration of more than 5,000 members of Arevalo’s center-left Semilla party.
Shortly after, the electoral court confirmed the first-round results, which put Arevalo into a second round. The head of the court said it had not been notified of the party’s suspension.
“It’s something that concerns us as a court, because we know that elections are won at the polls,” Irma Palencia, head of the electoral court, said when asked about the suspension.
A senior U.S. official warned of a threat to democracy.
“We are deeply concerned by threats to Guatemala’s electoral democracy. Institutions must respect the will of voters,” Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said in a post on Twitter.
Results from the election’s first-round vote on June 25 showed Arevalo facing first-place finisher and former First Lady Sandra Torres in the presidential run-off set for next month.
Formalizing the initial results was delayed until Wednesday after the ruling party and allies alleged irregularities in the vote, triggering a review of the ballots.
Polls had put Arevalo, an ex-diplomat and son of former president Juan Jose Arevalo, a distant outsider but his surprise second-place finish led many analysts to believe he could go on to win the presidency.
The electoral process in the Central American country has been strongly criticized by international and national organizations due to the delay in official results and the earlier suspension of other presidential hopefuls.
A judge suspended the candidacy of early front-runner Carlos Pineda in May, in a ruling the businessman decried as undemocratic.
Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the ruling against Semilla was deeply worrying.
“If this decision stands, Guatemala is headed toward becoming the new Nicaragua,” he said. “Everyone in the political class expected Semilla would win a free and fair vote and this proves it.”
Critics have denounced outgoing conservative President Alejandro Giammattei for undermining anti-corruption efforts, which has led many judges and prosecutors to either flee or risk arrest. Giammattei is barred by law from a second term.
“This has never happened before. This would certainly represent an astounding new low for Guatemala,” said Donald J. Planty, a former U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, about the possible suspension.
“It could really represent the beginning of the end of democracy in Guatemala.”
