Panamas judicial system takes another hit

President Martinelli’s decision to remain silent about allegations linking him to insider trading seems to be fuelling the storm of comment, rather than dousing it.

El Pais of Spain has followed El Mundo in highlighting the story . El Mundo published a story headlined: "Panama's financial system in danger after a presidential scandal" on December 27. Panama’s Foreign Ministry Panama issued a denial.
 On January 3, El Pais under the heading "The political crisis worsens in Panama," said: "New allegations of corruption stoke the confrontation of President Martinelli with the press …
"It sharpens the prolonged war Martinelli, accused of being hypersensitive to criticism, has with the media, in this case with the newspaper La Prensa" says the story.
It also summarizes Martinelli’s time in office saying that it has been plagued by "social protests and frequent riots, with violent clashes with police deputies, indigenous, peasants, unionists and teachers."
The publication quotes the vice president of the opposition Popular Party Carlos Gonzalez: "This is a president and a presidential family with unlimited greed, because not only are they getting into all businesses that have, or might have originated from special State concessions but it uses the same state power to attack the competition. "
Meanwhile Philemon Medina, secretary general of the Union of Journalists of Panama, said that with the appointments of Ana Belfon as Attorney General and Jose Ayudo Pradoas as a Supreme Court Judge, the president "is creating the conditions to not be investigated while in office" and be absolved of  research even beyond 2014 .
According to the union, it is not right that in a country  that truly respects the branches of government, the judicial authorities have indicated that they expect the Canadian justice system  to begin the research process.
"This shows that this is a country where the mode is presidentialism — the president's power is what prevails over state bodies,"