The political impact of Ricardo Martinelli's extradition

PANAMA - In Brief 22 Jun 2018 by Marco Fernandez

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Let’s define “uncertainty” in the current context. Panama will formally initiate the political campaign next August when Cambio Democratico (CD), the party created by former President Martinelli (2009-2013) -today on the opposition side- will hold its primary election to nominate the Presidential candidate for May 2019 general elections. The party is currently led by Romulo Roux, a lawyer of a large law firm, who acts as president of CD since January 2018 when he defeated the pro-Martinelli candidates in an internal by-election. At that time, Martinelli was imprisoned in Miami and likely to spend a few more months there waiting for the success of his pleads to the State Department not to extradite him back to Panama. But Martinelli was in fact extradited on June 11 after the U.S. authorities decided against this request. He is currently in jail.A bit of history is necessary to explain the current legal status of Martinelli and its effects on the future development of politics and the economy. Former Presidents of Central American countries could become members of the Parlamento Centroamericano (Parlacen) after leaving office in his or her country. Martinelli joined Parlacen immediately after Juan Carlos Varela became President as a shield against possible political retaliations by the new President given that a member of that organization does benefit from partial immunity. According to the Panamanian Legislation, a any Diputado (including one of Parlacen) is deemed to be judged by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Panama and not by the ordinary tribunals.After his return to Panama, Martinelli faced two preliminary hearings in the Supreme Court and lost both. The ne...