CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, (Reuters) – Guatemala’s Supreme Court said on Saturday it had rejected an appeal from former first lady Sandra Torres seeking to overturn the court’s decision to bar her from running for the presidency this year.
Only one of 13 judges voted in favour of the appeal, court president Luis Archila said during a news conference.
Centre-left Union of Hope Party (UNE) hopeful Torres’s bid faces the hurdle of a constitutional rule that prevents family members of the president from taking power. To skirt this, she announced in March her divorce from President Alvaro Colom, who by law cannot run for a consecutive term.
Torres is well behind in the polls. If she is barred from running that would nearly guarantee victory for retired general Otto Perez, of the right-wing Patriot Party, in a first round vote on Sept. 11.
