The new Guatemalan president, Alejandro Maldonado, asked all cabinet members and top government officials to hand in their resignation, announcing he will name all new ministers.
His announcement came immediately after he was sworn in as caretaker president, after Congress accepted the resignation of former President Otto Perez Molina, who is now in jail awaiting trial for corruption.
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Maldonado delivered a brief speech to Guatemalans, who have been intensely protesting since April. He told them that in the months he has in office he will construct a legacy of honesty and recover people's faith in Guatemalan democracy.
“You cannot consider your work done now,” he told Guatemalans. “In the months left before the year ends, there should be a positive response [to your demands], spaces should be opened for youths, activists and professionals,” Maldonado said. “This generation that has risen with symbols of peace cannot be stagnated nor become conformists.”
He also said, “We can recover our democracy. The people have mobilized due to their disgust with broken schemes.”
Maldonado will be president until January, when a new head of state is to take office. Presidential elections are due to take place this Sunday and will see wealthy businessperson and politician Manuel Baldizon – who is ahead in the polls – with 13 other candidates, among whom there is a comedian without political experience, a former first lady, and the daughter of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who is accused of genocide.
If none of the candidates garner over 50 percent of the votes, a second runoff round will take place Oct. 25.
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