Efforts to undermine the president-elect are taking a toll on his party and on Guatemalans standing up for democracy.
In the days following the runoff election, prosecutors filed motions to strip three electoral tribunal magistrates of the immunity from prosecution their office provides for their initial registration of a candidate with legal impediments, even though they retracted the decision. They also requested more documentation on the election proceedings and actors, including the tens of thousands of volunteers who staffed the polling stations.
Orellana ordered the suspension of Movimiento Semilla’s legal status as a party back in July in relation to the claims of frauduluent signatures. The electoral tribunal’s citizen registry refused to comply, as the law prohibits the suspension or cancellation of a party during an election process, and a top court sided with the registry. This year’s election process does not legally end until October 31, so although elections are already over no party can be suspended until that date.
The nonstop nature of the post-election turmoil has been overwhelming, but Guatemalans have sporadically taken to the streets in marches and rallies in different parts of the country to protest efforts to undermine the election process and the Semilla party.
Banners depicting former anti-impunity prosecutors and others persecuted for their anti-corruption efforts hang outside the public prosecutor’s office during an August 25 protest in Guatemala City.Lucrecia Rodríguez, a retired preschool teacher, took part in the rally along with some of her relatives. “She should resign,” she said of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, articulating protesters’ main demand. Rodríguez is an active member of the Semilla party.
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