Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal insisted Friday the results of elections which yielded a victory for anti-graft candidate Bernardo Arevalo were “unchangeable” as the prosecutor’s office sought to annul them amid accusations of an “attempted coup.”
“The results are validated, formalized and unchangeable,” tribunal president Blanca Alfaro said, adding the elected officials must assume office in January as planned or else there would be “a breach of the constitutional order.”
Political outsider Arevalo, who is slated to assume office on January 14, has faced an onslaught of legal challenges since his surprise second-round election victory in August, including attempts to suspend his political party and stop him from taking power.
The 65-year-old’s triumph and his pledge to fight graft are widely seen in Guatemala as alarming to the establishment political elite.
On Friday, prosecutor Leonor Morales said investigations have concluded that the election of Arevalo, his vice-president and parliamentarians was “null and void” due to counting “anomalies” in the first round in June.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) responded by saying “the results are validated, formalized and unchangeable.”
Arevalo has denounced an “ongoing coup” by the country’s institutions led by Attorney General Consuelo Porras and senior prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche.
Porras, Curruchiche and Judge Fredy Orellana — who had ordered the suspension of Arevalo’s Semilla (Seed) party — are all on a US list of “corrupt actors.”
The tribunal has already certified Arevalo’s election, but last month it suspended his party for a second time over alleged irregularities with its registration. That investigation is led by Curruchiche.
The moves against Arevalo and Seed has ignited mass protests by Guatemalans demanding the resignation of the three officials.
On Thursday, the president-elect himself led an anti-corruption protest of thousands of people in the capital Guatemala City.
Guatemala, the country of 17.6 million is one of Latin America’s poorest, with high rates of violent crime.
