Guatemala prosecutor seeks to strip electoral authorities of immunity after election

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President-elect Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President-elect Karin Herrera pose with their presidential election winners’ certificate at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras speaks to reporters after meeting with OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. Almagro is in Guatemala to participate in the first presidential succession meetings prior to the inauguration of the president-elect Bernardo Arévalo on Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche listens to Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras as she speaks to reporters after meeting with OAS secretary Luis Almagro in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Guatemala´s Attorney General Consuelo Porras talks with OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro after a meeting in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. Almagro is in Guatemala to participate in the first presidential succession meetings prior to the inauguration of president-elect Bernardo Arévalo on Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, accompanied by his staff, arrives to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to receive his winners’ certification in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, fourth from left, and Vice-President Karin Herrera, third from right, pose with their presidential election winners’ certificates, accompanied by members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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President-elect Bernardo Arévalo poses with his Supreme Electoral Tribunal winners’ certificate that certifies his victory in the presidential election, in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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President-elect Bernardo Arévalo poses next to Supreme Electoral Tribunal, TSE, President Irma Palencia, after the TSE awarded him with the presidential election winners’ certificate, in Guatemala City, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Guatemalan Vice President-Elect Karin Herrera talks with reporters in Guatemala City, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Herrera and President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo met today with President Alejandro Giammattei and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Guatemalan President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo smiles after giving a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Arevalo met today with President Alejandro Giammattei and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

By SONIA PÉREZ D.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s prosecutor for electoral crimes has asked the Supreme Court of Justice to strip five magistrates of the country’s top electoral authority of their immunity so they can be investigated on fraud allegations made by the loser of the Aug. 20 presidential election.

It is the latest example of elections that observers declared to be free and fair being dragged into the courts, even as President-elect Bernardo Arévalo begins the official transition with outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei.

The National Unity of Hope party of former first lady Sandra Torres filed a fraud complaint after the election. The party’s lawyer Carlos López said 164 precinct tallies duplicated votes. The party wants the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal investigated for allegedly not carrying out their duties.

Later Tuesday, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal gave Arévalo and his running mate Karin Herrera the credentials formally making them president-elect and vice president-elect.

“During recent weeks we have been subjected to an exhaustive analysis between the validation of the electoral process and the challenges that still remain,” said the tribunal’s President Irma Palencia. She called on people to respect the rule of law, separation of powers and civil rights of all Guatemalans.

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Arévalo praised the magistrates as a bulwark against attempts to disrupt the election and a “central defense of the country’s democratic values.”

“The people already decided, the people already voted and the people won,” said Herrera. “That is what has to be respected.”

On Monday, Arévalo and Giammattei had their first transition meeting with Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro present. Giammattei made his most direct comments since the election, saying “Dr. Arévalo will be the next president for the Seed party that won the elections.”

Arévalo previously had accused forces in Giammattei’s government of attempting a coup d’etat to keep him from taking power. The leader of the Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission had said legal efforts since the election appeared to be aimed at keeping Arévalo from assuming the presidency.

Over the weekend, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal blocked the suspension of Arévalo’s Seed Movement party, which had come at the request of prosecutors. They allege that there was wrongdoing in the collection of the required signatures years earlier to register the party, something Arévalo himself had reported to authorities before the election.

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