After temporarily abandoning the change of command process due to interference in the elections by the country’s investigative agency, President-elect Bernardo Arévalo proposed concentrating this process at the level of individual ministries and secretariats.
However, the acting head of state reacted slowly and then said that they would continue to prepare the schedule of meetings to convey the information.
He called on the flagbearer of the Semilla movement to include in these spaces the people who will be in charge of running the departments and secretariats.
He thanked Arévalo for accepting the proposal to resume the transition, noting that the handover will mark a very important milestone in Guatemala’s history.
However, there is still a long way to go to realize the popular will expressed in the elections (January 14, 2014 would be the handover of the presidential sash), while doubts remain due to legal and illegal political persecution.
Last Wednesday, the Prosecutor’s Office of the House of Representatives for Administrative Crime filed a request to lift the immunity of magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) for possible commission of the crimes of fraud, dereliction of duty and abuse of office.
The investigative agency explained that the request follows a complaint filed on June 29, 2023 regarding possible irregularities in the signing of the management contract for the purchase of the computer program used in the elections.
Two days later, the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) raided TSE following one of the ongoing investigations.
The institution concerned strongly condemned the measures taken against its facilities and the theft of the original voting documents, which exposed the intimidation attempts aimed at undermining democracy, he noted.
In its capacity as the body responsible for ensuring the transparency and legality of the electoral processes, the TSE said in a statement that the ongoing maneuvers raised doubts about the results of the votes that had already been made official.
He called on the presidential duo (Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera), the 340 mayors, 160 deputies of the Congress of the Republic and 20 freely and democratically elected deputies of the Central American Parliament to join in the defense of democracy.
He called on the Constitutional Court, in accordance with its essential function as the maximum guarantor of the legitimate order, to commit itself ex officio to the defense of the democratic regime, as it once did when safeguarding the sovereignty exercised by the people.
The tragedy in the settlement of Dios es Fiel in this capital also hit the headlines after heavy rains caused a dam to collapse, the waters of the Las Vacas river reached a depth of 10 meters and washed away 11 simple houses with their inhabitants.
ro/znc