Ex comptroller condemns legislators for sale or rent

Former Comptroller Alvin Weeden threw his his hat into the ring to run as an independent candidate for a legislature seat, and followed with verbal guns blazing.

Never one to holster his opinions, he said Friday, June 6, that  the level of the National Assembly has "declined."

He said that the National Assembly corresponds to the role of being a counterweight to the power of the Executive branch in the country.
He also voiced his indignation over the number of members of the opposition and the government who "are sold or rented."
"Here all members of government and opposition are always looking to the Executive to see where it pulls them," he said.
He added that deputies do not have the intention of making good laws.
"We have converted the House into a place of pre-sales," he said.
Weeden also criticized President Ricardo Martinelli for using his office for political purposes.
There is no doubt that Martinelli is using technological advances to record conversations of the opposition, Weeden said.
He also questioned the presidential candidacy of José Domingo Arias, saying Martinelli "is the one doing the campaigning," using the power of his office.