CD guilty of blatant violation of electoral rules – OAS

THE OAS (Organization of American States) election observers issued a harshly worded report on the "blatant" violation of electoral rules the "visible interference of the executive" and the use of state resources in the election that has Juan Carlos Varela heading for the presidential palace in July.

At a press conference on Monday, the 54-strong observer team from the OAS spoke out clearly on a campaign, marred by dirty tricks, smears and disinformation largely laid at the doorstep of the governing CD party. But, in spite of all, the secret ballot proved superior to massive manipulation.

The OAS  report  will add to the legacy of Martinelli, seen by many as an authoritarian ruler, surrounded by a cabal of insiders who feared to cross him and bowed to his commands.
"The candidates of the ruling party benefited during the campaign with the use of public resources, particularly, but not only, through the voluminous dissemination of works carried out by the government. These situations created profound asymmetries in the election campaign," said a statement issued by the observers.
the head of the mission, former Peruvian presidential candidate Lourdes Flores Nano, also drew attention to the lack of a limit of private financing and the lack of transparency in the origin of donations to political campaigns.
The report highlights the "exemplary conduct" of the Tribunal Electoral – "one of the most recognized institutions in the country" – but expresses its concern at the role of electoral prosecutors, which it qualified as "the weakest of the electoral institutions of the country" for their "passivity" to act on "clear violations" of the law.
Panama’s Electoral Prosecutor, a CD insider who had several members of his family working for the government, was the subject of frequent stories carried by Newsroom in the run-up to May 4.
Similarly, the mission urged political parties and the National Assembly to again form the National Committee on Electoral Reforms whose previous recommendations were set aside by outgoing President Ricardo Martinelli.
Flores Nano highlighted attacks on the web pages of media and the harassment of journalists as "negative symptoms for the democracy" of the nation.
The report will be presented to the Permanent Council of the OAS, where Panama is represented by Arturo Vallarino. Vallarino had been in Panama helping the campaign of his daughter-in-law, CD Deputy Ana Giselle Rosas de Vallarino.
The OAS mission’s 54 observers of different nationalities, visited 290 polling place