CD Party traitors on trial

THE DEMOCRATIC Change (CD) party deputies who defied  Ricardo Martinelli instructions in an  Assembly vote  are facing disciplinary proceedings,and possible expulsion

The) party’s General Prosecutor’s Office will open proceedings against the 16 members who voted for the re-election of PRD Deputy Rubén De León as president of the National Assembly. Martinelli owned media have desribed them as “traitors”

CD prosecutor, Tomás Martinelli, says that the office will open the investigation following a complaint made by Martinelli spin doctor  Luis Eduardo Camacho about the intentions of members to ignore “guideline given by the president” of the party, Ricardo Martinelli, who has not been in Panama since January 2015.

The members who supported De León are Dana Castañeda, Raúl Hernández, Noriel Salerno, Manuel Cohen, Nelson Jackson, José Muñoz, Héctor Valdés Carrasquilla, Mario Lázarus, Marilyn Vallarino, Yanibel Abrego, Rony Araúz, Dalia Bernal, Vidal García, Salvador Real, Juan Manuel Póveda and Absalom Finch.

Martinelli said the deputies violated the statutes of the party by failing to follow the instructions of the party’s chairman.

He also ordered the suspension of the “rights” of members during the disciplinary process.

Martinelli, instructed the bench of the CD to submit its own candidate for the presidency of the National Assembly. He suggested two names: Aris de Icaza and Fernando Carrillo.

In a note, Martinelli made it clear that those members who did not follow his guideline would be expelled from the party.

Carrillo was nominated but received only nine votes from the 25 CD members.