Detained Martinelli wants to run for deputy

Former President Ricardo Martinelli was nominated this Friday, July 27, as a  CD pre-candidate for Deputy for the circuit 8-8 (which includes Río Abajo, San Francisco, Parque Lefevre and Juan Díaz).

The “deputy” card replaces his original announced bid as a mayoral candidate.

It is the latest attempt to steer him out of range of a fusillade of justice bullets that could, if they strike home,  see him facing sentences that would mean a lifetime in jail.

For starters Harry Diaz the magistrate prosecutor in his trial for illegal wiretapping is calling for a 21-year-sentence, and at least four other major corruption investigations are waiting in the wings.

But under Panama’s unique rules created in an impunity club by self-serving lawmakers, if you are running for  public office or office within a  political party, prosecutions are suspended while the electoral hoopla is on and for months beyond

Martinelli is in an especially privileged position having created and led his own party in 1998  to further his political ambitions.

Whether his Plan B will be more successful than his litany of  “health” problems which lay dormant while he was in a Miami prison and have been twice sidelined by a team of Forensic medical specialists since his return to Panama on June 11, remain o be seen.

The application was made at the headquarters of his Cambio Democratic Party through a power of attorney delivered from his El Renacer Prison residence to lawyer Alejandro Pérez.

“Freedom for Ricardo Martinelli, freedom”, chanted his shrinking band of followers in a party that is already split three ways.

The CD will hold its presidential primaries on August 12. And on September 30 will hold primaries for the rest of the positions of popular election (mayor, deputy, and representative).