Martinelli Advertising to be Removed
The TE has reiterated that it was ordered to remove all advertising about former President Martinelli after his disqualification from running in the May 5th Presidential election. The Electoral Court (TE) has stated that the plenary session rejected a request from the Realizing Goals party (RM). The request was that the “Martinelli/Mulino” logo and the photo would appear on the voting ballot for May 5th for the presidential candidate José Raúl Mulino. In a statement from the TE it is noted that the decision to reject the request was made “because they believe that it will be used for electoral propaganda purposes.”
The agreements confirming the disqualification of Ricardo Martinelli as a presidential candidate and as a deputy require the removal of all electoral propaganda where the former president Martinelli appears. “The plenary session of the TE announced that both the photo with a caption and the Martinelli/Mulino logo cannot be approved, since the authorization of the photo and the advertising material, would create confusion in the electorate, because they imply that there is a non-existent presidential listing, affecting the integrity of the electoral process”. On March 4, the Electoral Court received notification from the Judicial Branch about the conviction in the New Business case, which establishes that Martinelli has a sentence of 10 years and 8 months in prison for money laundering.
Previously, the TE had warned that it needed this formal notification to begin the process of disqualifying Martinelli as a presidential candidate for Realando Metas and the Alianza party. According to article 180 of the Constitution, a person sentenced to five years or more in prison is prohibited from being elected president or vice president of the Republic. The sentence imposed on Martinelli is 128 months in prison. Martinelli has been barricaded in the Nicaraguan embassy, located in the La Alameda urbanization, since last February 7th five days after the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice announced that it would not admit his appeal against the conviction for this case.
José Raúl Mulino leads in Panama’s Presidential race, replacing disqualified Martinelli. A 64-year-old lawyer, Mulino was one of the leaders of the so-called Civilist Crusade that opposed the dictatorship of General Manuel Antonio Noriega (1983-1989). 26% of voters who have been surveyed said they would vote for Mulino in the May 5th election, who currently is 16 points ahead of his competitors. He is followed by Ricardo Lombana and former president Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), both with 10.8%, and lawyer Rómulo Roux with 10.2%. There are 20% undecided voters. Zulay Rodríguez has 6.7% of the vote and near the bottom is no surprise, the social-democratic ruling party candidate José Gabriel Carrizo, who lands in sixth place among the eight candidates with 6.5%. In Panama, presidential elections are held in a single round and are won by a simple majority. The term is five years.
