Provisional Protection Granted to Guatemalan Seed Movement by Constitutional Court
Guatemala City (CNN Spanish) – The Constitutional Court of Guatemala announced on Thursday that it has granted provisional protection to the Seed Movement party. This decision comes after the Seventh Court of Criminal Instance ordered the suspension of the party’s legal status.
In a social media statement, the Constitutional Court emphasized that this protection paves the way for the upcoming second round of the presidential election to proceed as scheduled, with the participation of the official candidates.
Bernardo Arévalo, the presidential candidate for the Seed Movement, stated that they filed for this protection “in defense of democracy, institutionality, and constitutionality.”
Meanwhile, José Ramiro Muñoz, the director of the Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, revealed that they have filed a constitutional action for amparo against the Seventh Court’s decision to suspend Semilla’s legal status. Muñoz argued that only the Court has the authority to take such legal actions concerning political organizations.
“The Court is the only entity in constitutional material, as the law states, with the power to suspend or cancel any political organization. That is why we have filed this constitutional action for protection,” Muñoz explained in a press conference on Thursday.
The suspension of Semilla’s legal status was announced on Wednesday night by Rafael Curruchiche, the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity. The party was accused of falsifying citizen signatures during the authorization process, an accusation that Semilla vehemently denies.
The decision to suspend Semilla’s legal status has sparked various reactions, including the suspension of the electoral campaign of Sandra Torres, a candidate for the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party. Torres is set to compete against Arévalo in the runoff scheduled for August 20.
In response to the Constitutional Court’s decision, the Public Ministry of Guatemala announced on Friday that they will continue with the ongoing investigations. They clarified that these investigations are focused solely on the events related to the formation of the Seed Movement party, which must comply with the requirements and legal regulations for its establishment.
The Public Ministry also denied allegations that their actions are aimed at interfering with the date of the second round of elections or inhibiting the participation of any candidate in the upcoming ballot.
Merlin Delcid and José Roberto Cisneros contributed to this report.
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