Martinelli defends “no primary” policy for selected candidates

PRESIDENT Ricardo Martinelli on Sunday, September 8, defended the decision by the CD to allow some incumbents to skip the primary process.

Martinelli said that this is a strategy that has been used by other parties in the past, and that the CD reserved nominations for people who "are clear and true leaders" who don't need to compete in primaries because "they have demonstrated their leadership."

He said hat a primary is expensive for a candidate, and the decision allowed those candidates to conserve their resources.

He said the CD is united and that it does not have the internal issues facing other groups.