Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office Declares Elections “Null”

 The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office assured this Friday, December 8, 2023 that the elections won this year by president-elect, Bernardo Arevalo, are not valid due to alleged administrative irregularities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The Prosecutor’s Office, whom Arevalo accused in September 2023 of carrying out a coup against him, indicated that the electoral records used in the elections “are null and void” since “they were not authorized” initially by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The alleged invalidation of the general electoral results was presented by prosecutor Leonor Morales, in a press conference, who said that the elections for president, deputies, mayor and deputies to the Central American Parliament must be annulled.

As an alleged reason for the annulment of the elections, Morales stated that there is an administrative irregularity since the electoral records used are not those originally approved by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

“The formats used were not those approved by the plenary session of magistrates,” stated Morales, who added that the votes “are null and void.”

Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office cannot reverse elections

Andrea Zeceña, a lawyer and elected representative of the Semilla Movement, warned on her social networks that the Public Ministry “does not have any authority” to declare the elections null and void.

The president of the electoral court, Blanca Alfaro, indicated in a press conference that the results of the elections are signed and certified, although she also pointed out that a different ruling from the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, could annul the decision.

“If they do not take office, there would be a breakdown of the institutional order,” Alfaro said in reference to the possibility that the elections will be annulled and Arevalo will not be sworn in on January 14, as established in Guatemalan law.

“There is absolutely no time for us to be able to repeat any election in any way,” added the president of the Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

OAS condemns “the attempted coup d’état”

The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemned this Friday “the attempted coup d’état by the Public Ministry of Guatemala” in an attempt by prosecutors Rafael Curruchiche and Leonor Morales to annul the country’s general elections.

In a statement, the office of the OAS general secretary, Luis Almagro, requested the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei; the Constitutional Court; to the Supreme Court and Congress to act against the “perpetrators of this attack” to “defend the institutions and the constitutional order.”

According to Almagro, “the attempt to annul this year’s general elections constitutes the worst form of democratic breakdown and the consolidation of a political fraud against the will of the people.”

They accuse the president-elect

In the same press conference, the Prosecutor’s Office also accused Arevalo of alleged illegalities in the formation of his party in 2018, in addition to an alleged case of money laundering.

The accusations are a new attempt by the Public Ministry, led by the attorney general, Consuelo Porras, to reverse the electoral results in favor of Arevalo, who surprisingly won the elections held this year.

Since July 12, the leadership of the Guatemalan Public Ministry, sanctioned by the United States under accusations of corruption, has tried to reverse Arevalo’s electoral victory, despite the fact that the law does not allow it to interfere in the electoral results.

This Friday’s accusations against the elections, held on June 25th in the first round and a runoff on August 20, join others raised in the past by the Prosecutor’s Office against Arevalo and also the Semilla Movement.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.