Martinelli promises annual plebiscites

President Ricardo Martinelli said Sunday that he will organize an annual plebiscite to get the citizens of Panama involved in the future of the country.
His statement follows increasing  criticism from labor, business and human rights groups about the growing concentration of power in the government, including his appointment of supreme court judges after negating the decisions of a representative panel that was to have chosen them, the suspension of the Attorney General, and the appointment of a former employee of his private business as the National Comptroller.
He has also been under fire, home and abroad, over recent statements made during his trip to Israel, with commentators bewailing his “ignorance” and "lack of judgment."
"Every country in the world where democracy exists has consultations each year” he said. "Let’s start making citizen consultations so that the people decide what they want.,"

Hours before and through a presidential statement, Martinelli summoned all sectors of the country to a national dialogue.
He did not say of the plebiscites would be binding, as in Switzerland.