Martinell admits inflating registration figures

President, Ricardo Martinelli, admitted Monday that when he was in opposition he inflated the numbers of newly registered members in his party,Democratic Change (CD)

" In opposition, I often signed up a  thousand people and said it was 8,000," he said laughing.
That was his answer to a question about what he thought of the 25,000 new members who signed up for  the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) over the weekend.

Getting a little calmer, says La Prensa, the president said he believes  in the party registration system and said that In his view, all parties should follow  process.

 "I sincerely urge all parties to enroll all Panamanians, and participate in strengthening democracy."
For the PRD, the President's statements were nothing more than a mockery.
According to the secretary general of the party, Mitchell Doens, the president is hurt because the PRD 25 000 people signed up “without gifts, and without threats."
On the party switch of some deputies, PRD president, Francisco Sanchez Cardenas claimed  that a "deputy" of Veraguas was tempted by a "million dollars" to join CD, but declined to give names. Martinelli played down the claim.