Vote buying no longer ok – prosecutor

ELECTORAL PROSECUTOR Eduardo Peñaloza, who was widely criticized during the election campaign for his lack of action over complaints of infringement’s by the then ruling party(CD), has once again pursued attack as the best form of defense.

During the campaign he turned his guns on the media and took legal action against his critics who had reported his  family’s CD connections and jobs with the government.(newsmpanarooma.com/news/panama/electoral-prosecutor-turns-sights-on-media-critics)He was also constantly at war with the judges of the Electoral Tribunal (TE), refusing to answer summonses by the judges.

On Tuesday of this week he called a press conference to denounce the judges of the TE saying they are to blame for the challenges that were filed in the May 4 elections not being resolved. “They want to blame me and I cannot allow it,” he said at He explained that the Electoral Code establishes that the challenges are administrative processes, and he is only responsible for possible criminal actions. “The judges are the ones who are responsible,” he said. In addition, he said that the judges have the legal tools to resolve these challenges. According to Peñaloza, to date there have been 24 challenges filed, compared to 29 in 2009. But these cases have yet to be resolved, whereas in 2009 the cases were resolved much more quickly.

 VOTE BUYING
The prosecutor said at least 15 appeals were rejected by the TE in 2009. He said that these challenges were rejected because vote buying was not considered a reason to contest an election. “Today, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction,” he said. “The judges now have another opinion and that is what is stalling the process.

” Peñaloza said that the delays have led some people to unfairly question his performance, when he has nothing to do with the challenges.