Another failed attempt to swear-in Martinelli brothers to bolt hole

Ricardo Alberto (Rica) and Luis Enrique (Kike) Martinelli Linares and their bodyguards left the Amador branch of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) on Monday, August 14  after another failed attempt to be sworn in as alternate deputies of the regional body seen by many as a bolt hole for politicians facing legal problems.

The fault was, again, the lack of quorum. The participation of at least 11 members of the Panamanian bench was needed to carry out the investiture session.

“There is no quorum right now. What happens is that lazy deputies don’t want to work,” said Carlos Outten mentioning several by name. Outten is a member of Cambio Democratico (CD), a party founded by Ricardo Martinelli, the father of the wannabe members.

As happened last Friday (when there was no quorum to swear them in), Rica and Kike Martinelli entered the sub-headquarters through a side door to avoid f journalists. They wore black suits, masks, and sunglasses, and did not speak to the media. Luis Enrique carried a backpack. They arrived at 9:00 am and left through that same door an hour and a half later.

Dorindo Cortés, of the PRD, indicated that they will insist on the investiture and warns that it is not up to the Panamanian bench to assess or vote for or against the entry of the Martinelli Linares into the regional body, even if they have pending legal proceedings.

“If they meet the requirements, they raise their hand and they are sworn in,” Cortés said. And since 2019 they have a credential from the Electoral Tribunal that certifies that they were chosen as members of Parlacen in that year’s election, well, according to Cortés, they meet the requirements.

If [the Martinelli Linares] have some kind of problem, of processes, Paralcen does not enter into discerning that problem,” he remarked.

Dorindo Cortés acknowledges that there may be a certain “suspicion”, since the Martinelli Linares would be sworn in with eight days to go before the start of the trial in the Blue Apple case, and 44 days for Odebrecht, “but I cannot allow myself to qualify that, because It doesn’t belong to me.”

If they formally enter Parlacen, what is called a procedural rupture would occur and the children of former President would no longer have to appear for trial on the dates agreed upon, since the jurisdiction to prosecute them would now lie with the Supreme Court.