The Economist analyzes Martinelli “power grab.”

One of the world’s leading business publications has published a critical assessment of President Ricardo Martinelli and his political ambitions.

The firing of  Juan Carlos Varela  as foreign minister   and the break up of the governing alliance has been recorded around the world but The Economist comes out strongly in reporting what they assess as a grab for power.

Two months ago the prestigious British magazine did a comparative analysis entitled "A Central American Singapore?". Then issued a warning. "Unless Panama  becomes ‘clean' the country runs the risk of becoming the next Mexico instead of the next Singapore."

In the  latest article titled "With friends like these,"  the publication evaluates Martinelli’s  management and political agenda, and gives a doubtful prognosis.

It questions the credibility of Martinelli and  describes the Panameñista-CD alliance as a "political strategy" to become President, and establish the CD – founded and chaired by Martinelli – as "an independent  dominant political force.”

The Economist recalled that the first action taken when Martinelli gained command  in July 2009, was to undermine the power of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, looking to get rid of the "bonds" of Panama. It points to the bill to introduce the second round of voting and the breakdown of the alliance indicators.

According to the journal,  the second round would be "electoral suicide" for the Panamenistas, presided over by Varela. He estimated that CD would only need to come in second to secure victory again in 2014, and would then seek support from other political bases.

The magazine attributed the support to the second round of voting by members of Panameñista to two factors: there are deputies in fear of losing assistance  to develop work in their districts if they vote against the second round, and  because, supposedly, the President threatened to reveal the results of some audits made in the management of  funds.

The Economist,  said Martinelli  won’t convene a referendum on the second round because he recognized that the population is worried about his power grab , or scramble for power.

It also asserts that the dismissal of Varela as chancellor was an act too "demeaning" to fix the political damage.

The publication quoted the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alberto Vallarino, who considered the electoral reforms as "a threat to democracy". 

Vallarino yesterday denied this remark, and said he had not spoken with anyone from the magazine.

The article touches on issues of corruption.  It concludes that Martinelli is "stubborn" and most likely to go ahead with his agenda, not his promises. He says that after many broken promises, particularly to Varela, "his credibility has seen better days."