GUATEMALA CITY, July 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Guatemalan electoral officials urged political parties to respect the outcome of the June 25 presidential election, after concluding a court-ordered review of the vote that reaffirmed the initial results.
The review, which finished Thursday, had sparked international consternation over the possible undermining of democracy.
It confirmed that two social democrats — Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arevalo — came out on top of last month’s first voting round.
“We reiterate the call to the representatives of political organizations, affiliates and sympathizers to accept with maturity the electoral results,” said Gerardo Ramirez, spokesman for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which oversees voting.
The review “reaffirms the preliminary results” of the election, in which Torres came in first among 22 candidates, with 15.86 percent of votes, followed by Arevalo, who got 11.77 percent, he told reporters.
Torres is the ex-wife of former president Alvaro Colom and Arevalo is the son of reformist former president Juan Jose Arevalo.
Both will compete in a runoff on August 20 — meaning Guatemala will have its first president from the political left in more than a decade.
Opponents from nine right-wing parties had appealed the election result to the country’s constitutional court, alleging vote irregularities.
The court had ordered the TSE to suspend the “officialization” of the results, prompting rebukes from election observers as well as the United States, European Union and Organization of American States.
Ramirez said electoral authorities would now receive the results of the review and proceed “to their respective integration and officialization.” — NNN-AGENCIES
