The (unicameral) Congress convened an extraordinary session to discuss, among other things, the constitutional objections of the Semilla movement and the Winaq parties to the level of revenue and expenditure for the next budget period.
However, the plenary session of the legislature rejected the questions and left the final decision to the country's president, Alejandro Giammattei, despite repeated calls for him to veto it.
Among the questions raised in the budget, the manner in which it was confirmed on November 30 stood out, since votes were not taken for each article but for the titles, stressed Semilla and Winaq.
The amendments adopted at the last minute were not read in full, so in addition to the discretionary allocation of funds to newly created non-governmental organizations, MPs, without knowing their content, expanded them.
In a statement addressed to lawmakers, Giammattei and the people, President-elect Bernardo Arévalo previously described the document supported by the ruling party and allied benches as absurd, corrupt and inefficient.
Despite the claims, Giammattei signed the decree law with 124,879 million 970,000 quetzales (almost 16 billion dollars), a historical record that, despite the annual increases, showed – according to experts – an opaque implementation. .
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers and citizens filed a complaint with the Central Committee to preserve Guatemala's democratic order following recent actions by the Ministry of State (MP) against Semilla and the electoral process.
In response, the Supreme Court confirmed the results of the previous elections and ordered that the transition of elected authorities continue as planned.
The plenum of Central Committee judges instructed that the protection granted would ensure the takeover on January 14, 2024; He, however, directed the MP to continue the ongoing investigation.
Employees of this institution, without providing any details and with their faces covered or wearing masks, went to the judiciary to request the termination of the preliminary proceedings against the President of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), Blanca Alfaro.
The MP cited obstruction and dereliction of duty for his actions during the ballot box hijacking raids carried out on September 30.
On this special occasion, Alfaro said she felt very honored: “This is a sign that we have done a good job.”
Given our approach that the election results were certified, made official and unchangeable, the MP responded in this way, he described.
“We will not play a game in which we try to doubt the honesty of the people who counted the votes,” he stressed, apart from the fact that the TSE judges are going on vacation and on January 3, 2024 will go back to work.
ro/znc