Henriquez - Martinelli Will Not Seek Reelection
Today on the Channel 13 Telemetro morning newscast, Panama's Minister of Trade and Industry, Roberto Henriquez, said the only person who would immediately benefit from a proposal to reduce the waiting period for a former president to seek reelection from 10 years (currently) to five years would be Martin Torrijos. Henriquez said any proposal to change the Constitution of Panama to allow for the immediate reelection of the sitting president is not on the agenda of the present government of Ricardo Martinelli. He said the only ones talking about his possibility are PRD politicians from the opposition. (Source: Telemetro Reporta)
Editor's Comment: The message coming from the administration of Ricardo Martinelli became clear on this issue, as of yesterday morning. Martinelli himself said he has no interest whatsoever of seeking immediate reelection in the 2014 elections. However in these statements made by Roberto Henriquez, this is the first time I've seen the "trial balloon" floated of decreasing the waiting period required from 10 to 5 years. If that change were implemented then Martin Torrijos would be able to run for office in 2014, instead of having to wait until 2019. Right now when a President leaves office he or she has to sit out for two full cycles before they are eligible. In 2009 Ernesto Perez Balladares was eligible because he left office in 1999, but he lost a PRD primary election to Balbina Herrera. With no change to the constitution both Ernesto Perez Balladares and Mireya Moscoso could run in 2014, because Mireya left office in 2004. If the change is adopted then you could add Martin Torrijos to the mix for 2014, but Ricardo Martinelli would not be eligible until 2019.
And Here's The Grand Strategy: Ricardo Martinelli does a good job, runs the country well, focuses on making sure he keeps the people happy, and glides into the end of his administration with relatively high approval ratings (60% or higher). He hands the reins to Juan Carlos Varela (or some other politician he could back as his anointed candidate) who takes over and runs things for the next five years. And then in 2019 after taking five years off Martinelli could come back and do it again. As long as the non-PRD coalition remains intact, then the PRD will never have the votes to run the country. Repeat forever. The kicker to this plan is "keeping the coalition together." What tends to happen ever five years is - the non-PRD parties get together and form a coalition and they win. (Endara). The next time around it all falls apart and they lose (Perez Balladares.) Then after being reminded of what the PRD is like they come together again (Moscoso). Once in power they are corrupted, fall on their asses, and the PRD comes back (Torrijos.) Once again reminded of the PRD, they get it together again (Martinelli) and here we are today. Anyway, the message is "we don't want reelection" but their plan apparently calls for holding on to power for a very long time.
