Guatemala votes in runoff election seen as democratic test – DW – 08/21/2023

Voting in Guatemala got underway on Sunday morning in the country’s presidential run-off election which is being seen as a test for democracy.

Progressive candidate from the Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement), Bernardo Arevalo, is running on an anti-corruption platform and recent polls have him placed as the frontrunner.

Arevalo is up against former first lady Sandra Torres who has become an ally of outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei in her third attempt at the presidency.

“Today we have to vote. We all have the right and the privilege to express our opinion to shape the future of the country,” Arevalo said after casting his ballot in the capital Guatemala City, according to Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre. 

Torres wrote on the platform X, formerly Twitter, that she was “totally committed to the change in our country.”

Bumpy road to runoff

Last month in the build-up to polls, police raided Arevalo’s party headquarters in a move he slammed as “political persecution.” The Attorney General’s Office said that it was carrying out a court order from July 12 which suspended the legal status of Arevalo’s center-left party, over allegations of falsifying signatures when establishing itself in order to compete.

Just days before the presidential runoff, the Supreme Court of Justice granted a permanent injunction to Arevalo’s party, blocking the previous suspension order by the lower court.

The attorney general who ordered Semilla’s suspension had been previously added by the US State Department to its Engel list of “corrupt and undemocratic actors.”

Keeping an eye on results

Meanwhile regional oversight forum, the Organization of American States (OAS) said a team of 86 election observers was in the country to monitor proceedings.

“It is essential that citizens be able to express themselves freely with full guarantees and that their expressions be respected,” said Eladio Loizaga, head of the OAS mission in Guatemala on Saturday.

Guatemala is Central America’s most populous country, and as the region’s largest economy, it has been battling with widespread poverty and violence which has forced hundreds of thousands to emigrate over the past few years.

Polls close at 1800 local time (0000 UTC).

kb/jcg (Reuters, AP, AFP)