2023-06-04 19:58:01
PANAMA (AP) – Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli, who was awaiting a verdict in a trial against him for alleged money laundering that recently ended, is competing on Sunday for the presidential candidacy of his political organization, called Realizando Metas, which celebrates its internships with a view to the general elections of May 2024.
Martinelli, 71, aspires to return to the presidency, although it will be necessary to see what the outcome will be before the courts in the case of the purchase of a publishing company while he was running the country, since a conviction could put an end to his aspirations. He also must later face another case related to bribes handed out by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.
As long as the supermarket magnate who governed Panama between 2009-2014 does not receive a guilty verdict, he can continue in the political race, according to electoral laws. The United States also implicated the former president in corruption cases in January.
Martinelli attended a school in the capital in the morning to exercise his vote, and immediately reiterated his complaints that through the proceedings against him they seek to remove him from the upcoming race.
“This is a staged political persecution and a hoax,” the ex-president, who was absent from the trial held this week after presenting a medical disability after undergoing a spinal operation, launched before the media.
Martinelli is competing against three other rivals, although it is taken for granted that the conservative politician would win the candidacy without problems. The other parties that will participate in the general elections next year will carry out theirs later.
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