MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Clearing the way for Guatemala elected president to take office in January

The Constitutional Court commanded Congress “to guarantee the effective inauguration of all elected officials in the 2023 electoral process, in accordance with validation of results”

Guatemala the Central American country long linked to political instability and extreme violence in solving many of its domestic conflicts, is again a hotspot in the region since an elected president, who should be taking office in mid-January, has been facing growing supposedly 'legal' impediments to his legitimate right, supported by an overwhelming majority of voters who surprised the “political establishment”.

But not everybody or government body is corrupt in Guatemala, and the Constitutional Court ordered in a statement “to command Congress to guarantee the effective inauguration of all elected officials in the 2023 electoral process, in accordance with official rights and validation of results.”

The decision came after the court accepted an appeal presented in October by a group of lawyers and citizens to clear Bernardo Arevalo and his Seed Movement party's rise to power. Arevalo campaigned on a strong anti corruption and rule of the law promises.

“We have won the elections and we will take office on January 14. Guatemala, the future is already ours,” Arevalo wrote in a brief message on X, formerly Twitter.

The resolution also protects the inauguration of vice president-elect Karin Herrera and of the 160 deputies, 340 mayors and 20 representatives to the Central American parliament who were elected in this year's vote.

The court, citing its duty “to safeguard the constitutional order and the constitutional rule of law in Guatemala, decided to grant definitive protection,” the statement said.

Arevalo has faced a barrage 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 Uruguayan born 65-year-old's triumph and his pledge to fight graft are widely seen in Guatemala as alarming to the establishment political elite. Arevalo's father was also president of Guatemala but was forced to leave the country and take refuge in Uruguay.

Last Friday, the country's chief prosecutor Leonor Morales said investigations had 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.

However the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) responded by saying “the results are validated, formalized and unchangeable.”

In Washington, the Organization of American States secretariat said it “condemns the attempted coup d'état by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Guatemala.” Likewise the US State Department and the EU have shown support for Arevalo and last week Mercosur called on the authorities of Guatemala “to adopt the necessary measures to guarantee a harmonic presidential transition process to ensure the swearing in of the elected legitimate authorities”