OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Guatemala Expresses Concern over Possible Suspension of Movimiento Semilla Party

The mission records the decision of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's Citizens' Registry to provisionally suspend Movimiento Semilla in compliance with the instruction of the criminal judge of July 2023, issued at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and states that on the previous day, 30 August, the executive committee of Congress withdrew recognition of Movimiento Semilla as a legislative bloc and declared its sitting deputies independent, which in the mission's view breaches the minimum norms of democratic coexistence and parliamentary law. It argues that suspending a party over the signatures collected for its registration is inappropriate after an election in which that party has passed the 5 per cent of valid votes required to keep its registration, and calls on the Tribunal to respect its own precedents and rejects the threats it has received.