The Guatemalan Supreme Court this morning rejected an appeal by former First Lady Sandra Torres to allow her to run for president to in elections on September 11. The winner will take office from President Álvaro Colom, Torres’ husband until March 2011. Article 186 of Guatemala’s constitution bans relatives of any sitting president from running for office. After divorcing President Colom, Ms. Torres, had hoped their legal separation would exempt her from the provision.

As first lady, Ms. Torres maintained a high profile in overseeing numerous government-sponsored anti-poverty programs and has enjoyed widespread popularity. That reputation led many to believe she could win the presidency under the incumbent Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE) party. Numerous polls, however, have shown her trailing the leading conservative candidate and former army general Otto Pérez by a wide margin.

It is unclear whether Mr. Torres will continue the appeals process to the federal Constitutional Court—Guatemala’s highest court—or choose to bow out of the race. Analysts also say no clear successor to Mr. Colom is evident from within his own party.

The Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Court yesterday ruled against Sandra Torres, ex-wife of President Álvaro Colom, in her bid to compete in the country’s September 11 presidential election. The court’s decision was based on legal fraud stemming from Torres’ divorce from Colom on March 11.

The divorce was an effort to bypass a provision in the Guatemalan constitution that bars close relatives of a former president from taking power. Aimed at limiting autocratic rule, the clause dates back to Guatemala’s transition to democracy in the mid-1980s. According to Deputy Christian Boussinot of Torres’ Coalicion de la Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza y la Gran Alianza Nacional (National Unity of Hope—UNE), the party plans to appeal the decision.
 
Even before the Court’s decision, Torres was trailing behind her presidential rival, former army general and Partido Patriota (Patriot Party) candidate Otto Pérez Molina, by 27 percentage points in an exit poll of 230,000 voters conducted by Prensa Libre and released yesterday. Given the high levels of insecurity in Guatemala, Pérez Molina’s military background and anti-crime platform make him a popular candidate. If Torres had been allowed to run and won the election, she would have become Guatemala’s first female president.