Jailing  of Martinelli and 4 others could come Friday

After knowing the decision of the Supreme Court on its rejection of the appeal filed by the defense of former president Ricardo Martinelli , there have been many questions and opinions have been expressed about the future of his presidential candidacy.

According to lawyer Rodrigo Noriega, in follow-up with the process, this Friday, February 9, the deadline for the edict to become final expires, the Criminal Chamber officially informs Judge Baloísa Marquínez about the decision and she orders the Directorate of Judicial Investigation and the National Police to arrest, not only Martinelli, but the other four who were denied the same appeal.

Regarding the disqualification of Martinelli’s candidacy, Noriega recalled that the Electoral Court had already agreed in two instances to maintain electoral jurisdiction, which delayed the judicial process in the New Business case.

“There was complicity on the part of the Electoral Court, I hope that starting Friday when the decision becomes final it will proceed as quickly as possible. They know that this is a constitutional disqualification, it cannot be changed,” he clarified.

“The sentence was now final, and the sentence of 10 and 8 months was final. So, when the edict is final on Friday, the Electoral Court will not have any excuse for no disqualification,” Noriega stressed.

He considered that the real campaign will begin in the coming weeks when Martinelli is disqualified, because it represents an element of polarization that will no longer exist.

He did not rule out that there would be a significant abstention due to the lack of logistics for mobilization, and then he reflected that these will be very interesting elections.

“Those who have hard votes, if there is abstention, are the ones who win. Then people say, oh I don’t vote, and they are giving the vote to the same people as always,” he indicated.

He stated that the country has to inform itself and go out to vote because the insurance is bankrupt, the investment grade is about to be lost and there are serious education and health problems, so they have to vote.