Candidates squabble over whos advising who

PANAMA’S presidential campaign seems to have drifted from issues that affect voters, into a circuitous sniping contest over who talks to who and who’s advising the candidates.

PRD presidential candidate Juan Carlos Navarro, suspected by some of having had secret meetings with President Ricardo Martinelli , called a press conference Thursday, December 12, to deny that members of his advisory team were linked to his opponents, the CD party.

On Friday, the CD candidate José Domingo Arias denied that he had any contact with former Minister of the Presidency ,Demetrio Papadimitriu, or that he asked him for campaign advice.
"That is not true. I did not ask any minister nor any contributor to my campaign to talk to Papadimitriu," Arias said. "I have not called Papadimitriu to consult on any issue."
Arias said that he feels comfortable working with his political advisers, among them the Brazilian Joao Santana.
His statements were in response to an interview conducted earlier this week by Papadimitriu, who alleged that he was contacted by a minister to work on negative campaign ads for the Arias campaign.
Papadimitriu, who was the Minister of the Presidency from July 1, 2009 to July 13, 2012, said he rejected the proposal.