Guatemala's top electoral tribunal declared progressive Bernardo Arévalo the winner of the country's presidential elections on Monday, August 28, but the prospect of him taking office on January 14 was uncertain after another government body suspended all activities by his Seed Movement party.
No authority has explained exactly what the suspension, confirmed to The Associated Press by the party's lawyer, will mean for the president-elect. The moves come after one of the most tumultuous elections in the Central American nation's recent history, which has put to test Guatemala's democracy.
At a time when Guatemalans, hungry for change, have grown disillusioned with endemic corruption, Arévalo and other opponents of the country's elite faced waves of judicial attacks in an attempt to knock them out of the race.
Arévalo, the little-known son of a former president, shocked much of the country by emerging as a frontrunner in the first round of presidential elections in June. His rise came after a handful of other candidates were disqualified.
He rapidly gained support as he posed a threat to the country's elite, campaigning on social progress and railing against corruption.
He faced former first lady Sandra Torres in an August 20 presidential runoff. According to the official count, the progressive candidate obtained 60.9% of the valid votes cast against 37.2% for the right-wing Torres.
His win has been the source of a legal back-and-forth between various governmental entities and courts, some staffed with officials that have been sanctioned by the United States on charges of corruption.
Guatemala's attorney general's office had opened an investigation into the Seed Movement for alleged irregularities in the gathering of signatures for its formation as a party. The electoral registry on Monday suspended the party.
The Seed Party now has three days to challenge the suspension and, in that case, the issue would be elevated to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which initially called the raise for Arévalo.