Traveling top judge eyes re-election

PANAMA’S  Supreme Court (CSJ) President José Ayú Prado, is prepared to “accept” re-election if he has the support.

Ayú Prado,  who was promoted  by Ricardo Martinelli to Attorney General and then to the Supreme Court in 2013 by Ricardo Martinell has survived  accusations of witness coercing while AG, denunciations  of interference as a judge  before a National Assembly committee and has gained a reputation as the country’s  most traveled magistrate, who has a taste for conferences and airports  while court files are increasingly backlogged.

Referring to his re-election ambitions he said on Monday, Sep 25  presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), on Monday, Sep 25, at an event for victim  defenders he said:”In my house, my mother taught me to be responsible”,

“One is re-elected, or not re-elected. There is freedom of ideas and there are those [re-election] ideas, he said.

But he warned that, for the time being, he would wait for the Executive Body to appoint two new magistrates, replacing Jerónimo Mejía and Oydén Ortega, whose terms end in December. At the last election, the two novice judges voted for Prado after being sworn in.

“We must see what happens” in these three months with the appointment of the new magistrates, he said.

For now, he added, he is “worried” about finishing some projects and getting the Executive and the National Assembly to increase the budget for the fiscal year 2018, reports La Prensa.

For the coming year, the Ministry of Economy and Finance recommended a budget of $159.4 million. The budget for the current year is $166.8 million.