RM Party seeks to provide armor for its founder

Fights, claims, and brawls were the scenario, at the internal elections of the Realizing Goals (RM) party on  Sunday, April 24  reports La Prensa.

RM is a party founded by former President Ricardo Martinelli, and on Sunday held elections to choose its authorities from the Women’s and Youth Secretariats.

Until Monday afternoon there was no official report of who were the winners. Mariela Jiménez, candidate for the Secretariat for Women, and Oliver Dawkins, candidate for the Secretariat for Youth, in a statement, assured that due to the “seriousness of the irregularities and inconsistencies,” it is “obvious” that “new elections must be held in a significant number of places.

“There is no question of this need. The president of the Elections Commission (Alma Cortés) has expressed that over 25.000 people could not vote”, said the note.

 Cortés assured that some 25,000 people could not vote because the tables were not ready. Candidates for the different positions stated that personnel related to the payroll occupied space inside the voting centers, which is not allowed by law.

On Monday at noon, at the party’s headquarters in Plaza Carolina, a place that previously housed the Cambio Democrático party, also founded by Martinelli, there was no one. Outside there were remains of garbage and the iron doors of the premises were closed with a padlock.

Dodging trial
The new elections proposed by RM would extend Martinelli’s criminal electoral jurisdiction, and in turn would allow him to avoid the hearing for the New Business case, scheduled for May 19. The third liquidator judge of criminal cases, Baloisa Marquínez, was forced to suspend the procedure because Martinelli invoked the electoral jurisdiction, and then asked the Electoral Court (TE) to remove the armor, but the magistrates Heriberto Araúz, and Alfredo Juncá denied this petition alleging that Martinelli is protected by the principle of specialty.

Both Martinelli and Cortés had already asked the TE to postpone the elections. This would allow them to lengthen the electoral calendar and, therefore, extend the jurisdiction.