GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala’s electoral tribunal said Sunday it had temporarily revoked a suspension order against President-elect Bernardo Arevalo’s Semilla party, which had sowed confusion about his victory in the days after the election.
Electoral officials, in a document, said they nulled on Saturday the suspension order through October. It was not immediately clear if Semilla would face the suspension order again after that period.
Arevalo, who campaigned on pledges to tackle corruption, resoundingly won the Aug. 20 second-round run-off election. However, before just before electoral tribunal officials declared Arevalo the victor, Semilla was notified that a branch of the tribunal suspended the party over registration flaws.
The move prompted swift international backlash, including from the Organization of American States (OAS), and Arevalo vowed to appeal what he called an “illegal” suspension.
Hundreds of supporters marched in capital Guatemala City on Saturday, answering a rally cry from Arevalo to “unite” behind his government.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu, writing by Cassandra Garrison, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
