"This is equivalent to a coup!"
According to Agence France Presse, Guatemalan President elect Bernardo Arevalo condemned on September 1st the Guatemalan judiciary for launching a "sustained coup" aimed at preventing him from taking office. Previously, his political party was suspended.
According to the report, Arevalo said at a press conference, "A group of corrupt politicians and officials refused to accept the election results and launched a plan that undermines constitutional order and goes against democracy."
"These actions are equivalent to a coup, and the institutions that initiated this coup were supposed to protect our country's judiciary."
According to reports, analysts say the decision to suspend political party qualifications will not prevent Arevalo from taking over the presidency in January, but will hinder his "Seed Movement" party from working in Congress. The party cannot issue statements or raise funds.
According to the Associated Press, the head of the Organization of American States election observation team stated on the 1st that the actions taken by the Guatemalan judicial system against the "Seed Movement" party to which President Bernardo Arevalo belongs seem to be aimed at preventing him from taking office.
The representative of the Organization of American States stated that the August 20th elections in Guatemala were "peaceful and transparent, leaving no doubt about following the will of the people.".
But when summarizing the various legal actions taken by the Attorney General's Office against the "Seed Movement" party, the Organization of American States stated that this seems to have clear political intentions.
The report states that the Organization of American States believes that, considering the recorded situation, the election observation mission can only conclude that in this particular case, the mechanisms and tools of the Guatemalan judicial system were politicized in order to oppose the "seed movement" party.
According to a report on the website of Voice of America on September 2nd, the Guatemalan Attorney General's Office, which is under the command of the current president, temporarily cancelled the registration of the "Seed Movement" party of President elect Arevallo under the pretext that the establishment registration involves forgery of documents. The move by the Office of the Attorney General of Guatemala clearly contradicts relevant laws.
The report states that a series of attempts to influence the newly elected president's succession have sparked widespread international condemnation, but have failed to dissuade the current president, Alejandro Jamatay, from ignoring reality. The parliament controlled by Jamatai even decided to cancel the eligibility of 23 new members of the "Seed Movement" party to form a parliamentary caucus, making them independent individuals and excluded from important committees.
After Arevallo was officially elected but his political party was temporarily disqualified, the United States, the European Union, Spain, France, Mexico, and Colombia all issued statements to monitor the possible development of the Jamatay government's "intervention in the transition".