Tribunal  clears path for Martinelli’s wife to be presidential running mate

The Electoral Tribunal (TE) has admitted the nomination of Marta Linares de Martinelli as a candidate for vice president of the Republic of Panama, of her husband Ricardo Martinelli, who is the presidential candidate for Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza.

The news was announced by Alma Cortés, lawyer and RM activist, during a protest in front of the TE facilities in Ancon, on Wednesday, March 4.

Marta Linares de Martinelli went to the Electoral on Monday to present her application manually, after it was rejected through the technological platform.

The TE confirmed to La Prensa that the application was admitted. They added that the resolution will be published in the Electoral Bulletin on Thursday and from the next day, it can be challenged for three days. That is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

For analysts and former magistrates of the TE, such as Guillermo Márquez Amado, this nomination challenges the Constitution itself and the Electoral Code. Márquez Amado recalled that the regulations indicate that someone who has a fourth degree of consanguinity or a second degree of affinity with the President of the Republic cannot be elected as vice president.

This would apply to the Martinelli spouse. Furthermore, if the former president wins, his wife will not be able to be part of the Cabinet Council, as corresponds to the vice president of the Republic.

“This means that people who are related, such as parents and children, grandparents, and uncles, cannot be candidates. The Supreme Court said in 2015 that when a kinship relationship like that is mentioned, it is understood that that of a spouse is also included. It is completely illogical that the father cannot designate the son but can designate the wife,” he pointed out.