Fears for Guatemala's democracy after court excludes a top party from election

By Sofia Menchu

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -A Guatemalan court ordered the suspension of anti-graft presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo's political party, a prosecutor said on Wednesday, threatening his place in a run-off vote and prompting U.S. warnings of a challenge to democracy.

Arevalo, in an interview with CNN, said he would challenge the suspension and it would not exclude him from the race to become president in the runoff, due to be held on August 20.

"It's evident that it has no legal substance," he said of the court order, adding Guatemalan law states a political party cannot be suspended in the middle of an election.

"In no way will we obey a spurious and illegal decision like the one issued by that court."

The electoral process in the Central American country had already been strongly criticized by international and national organizations due to a delay in official results and the earlier exclusion of other popular presidential hopefuls.

Samuel Perez, who is running for a Congressional seat for Arevalo's party, Semilla, said the party had filed a motion with the country's top court to block to suspension, which was ordered by a separate, criminal court.

"This is a preventive procedure to ensure the electoral court is not forced to comply with illegal orders", he said, calling the motion an appeal to defend the vote of the Guatemalan people.

Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, a prominent figure who has previously targeted anti-corruption campaigners, said earlier in a video posted on Twitter that investigations showed irregularities in the registration of more than 5,000 members of the center-left party.

Also on Wednesday, the electoral court finally confirmed the results of the June 25 first round of the election that placed Arevalo in the runoff vote against former first lady Sandra Torres.

Formalizing the initial results had been delayed after the ruling party and allies alleged irregularities, triggering a review of the ballots.

The electoral court said it had not been notified of the party's suspension and indicated it would not welcome the ruling.

"It's something that concerns us as a court, because we know that elections are won at the polls," Irma Palencia, head of the electoral court, said when asked about the suspension.

A senior U.S. official warned of a threat to democracy.

"We are deeply concerned by threats to Guatemala’s electoral democracy. Institutions must respect the will of voters," Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said in a post on Twitter.

Donald J. Planty, a former U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, said such a suspension had never happened before and would represent an "astounding new low."

"It could really represent the beginning of the end of democracy in Guatemala," Planty said.

CACIF, Guatemala's influential business lobby, also expressed concern about the suspension.

"It is imperative to respect the decision of the top electoral authority and the will of Guatemalans expressed at the polls," it said in a statement.

"BEGINNING OF THE END"

Arevalo is an ex-diplomat and son of Juan Jose Arevalo, who was widely seen as Guatemala's first freely-elected president when he took office in the 1940s.

Polls had shown Arevalo as a distant outsider ahead of the first round, but his surprise second-place finish led many analysts to believe he could go on to win the presidency.

A judge suspended the candidacy of early front-runner Carlos Pineda in May, in a ruling the businessman decried as undemocratic.

Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the ruling against Semilla was deeply worrying.

"If this decision stands, Guatemala is headed toward becoming the new Nicaragua," he said. "Everyone in the political class expected Semilla would win a free and fair vote and this proves it."

Critics have denounced outgoing conservative President Alejandro Giammattei for undermining anti-corruption efforts, which has led many judges and prosecutors to either flee or risk arrest. Giammattei is barred by law from a second term.

(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Valentine Hilaire, David Alire, Adriana Barrera, Cassandra Garrison and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Stephen Eisenhammer, Lincoln Feast and Raju Gopalakrishnan)