Mexico City, Aug. 30, (dpa/GNA) – Guatemala’s outgoing president Alejandro Giammattei has initiated the transition process to future president Bernardo Arévalo’s government, who was declared the winner of the country’s elections on Monday.
Giammattei on Tuesday invited the newly elected team to a first meeting early next week, despite numerous attempts by the judiciary to prevent the handover to the progressive, anti-corruption candidate.
Arévalo is due to take office in January 14.
Arévalo, of the leftist Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement) party, won the run-off on August 20 with 60.91% of the votes, announced the Supreme Electoral Court on Monday. The former first-lady Sandra Torres, considered a representative of the establishment, has so far not acknowledged her defeat, though she only came to 39.09%.
The election process was overshadowed by attempts by the political elite and the attorney general’s office to stop 64-year-old Arévalo’s ascent by legal means. They are trying to prevent the new president from fighting widespread corruption.
Arévalo’s party was suspended for the time being at the request of a judge shortly before the final results were announced.
An electoral court authority decided on Monday to revoke Movimiento Semilla’s legal status for the time being because of alleged irregularities in its formation. The party now has three days to appeal.
The same electoral judges who confirmed Arévalo’s victory will have to decide on the party’s future.
In the United States, Guatemala’s attorney general is on a list of corrupt and anti-democratic actors.
Five days after the run-off, Torres’ defeated centre-left National Unity of Hope (UNE) party had already challenged the vote count.
The party filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office for alleged electoral fraud.
Alejandro Giammattei, who due to term limits was not allowed to run again, said in a video message: “The door is now open for an orderly, transparent and efficient transition.”
He said that the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, had also been invited to Monday’s meeting. The OAS will accompany the process until the handover of office.
Arévalo’s team had recently warned of assassination plans against him. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington then called on the Guatemalan government to take precautionary measures to protect the future leader.
GNA