OFF THE CUFF: The changing sands of Assembly alliances

PANAMA’S POLITICAL alliances seem to be moving in new directions following the election of PRD Deputy Rubén De León as the next president of the National Assembly on Wednesday July 1 with both his party, as well as the CD, with visible cracks in their caucuses.

 PRD President Benicio Robinson had supported Crispiano Adames, and had counted on support from the CD, which had been promised leadership positions within the new administration.
Most notably, says La Prensa CD Deputy Sergio Galvez, an ardent supporter of former President Ricardo Martinelli, was tapped to lead the Credentials Committee, and had pledged to investigate President Juan Carlos Varela and Comptroller Frederico Humbert.
Galvez, a political party hopper, has gained notoriety for his annual distribution of thousands of government funded hams and turkeys to voters in El Chorrillo and his boasts of being a “sexual buffalo” . His use of $675,000 of public money to distribute 30,000,hams was defended by Martinelli.
But his hopes were dashed when De León received the support of the Panameñista caucus, as well as five members of his own party and a number of CD deputies seeking to distance themselves from their leader Ricardo Martinelli, who has left the country under a cloud of corruption scandals.
De Leon was also supported by the Molirena, Partido Popular and the Assembly’s only independent deputy. That coalition propelled him to a 39-31 victory over Adames.
The defeat of Adames has hurt Robinson politically, as a day earlier he announced the end of the legislative alliance with the Panameñistas, apparently confident he could form a coalition with the CD to defeat them. Both Martinelli, who is normally active on Twitter, and acting CD President Rómulo Roux have remained silent on the defection of the 13 members who supported De León.