Martinelli in Metro subway photo-op with Arias

UNDETERRED by accusations of flouting the Constitution by participating in the election campaign, President Ricardo Martinelli rode the Metro subway with the CD presidential candidate, José Domingo Arias on Thursday April 16.

The showing the flag journey from San Miguelito to Albrook follows the triumphal tour of the line on the first weekend in April for the official opening of Martinelli’s flagship project.

With just 18 days to the election, the purpose of the photo-op was clear.
The journey ended in a restaurant Albrook Mall, in which both had lunch with the Minister for Canal Affairs and Metro Secretary,, Roberto Roy ; the Arias campaign manager José Muñoz ; and Mides Minister Guillermo Ferrufino .
Former Electoral Tribunal judge Guillermo Márquez Amado described the event as a
"clearly proselytizing" activity to get votes.
He warned that the Constitution , which prohibits the direct or indirect government support for candidates for elected office , though they be veiled the means to that end is a violation.
The former general secretary of the PRD Mitchell Doens labeled it as an "act of desperation " that led Martinelli to violate constitutional requirements.