politics

Martinelli springs to the lead

la prensa

dark horse: A Unimer poll placed Cambio Democrático candidate Ricardo Martinelli 18 percentage points ahead of Balbina Herrera. 1145051

As Cambio Democrático presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli leapt to the lead in recent public polls, leaving ruling party candidate Balbina Herrera some 18 percentage points behind, political analysts try to predict who the businessman and sudden favorite with voters will choose to accompany him in his bid for the Palacio de las Garzas.

Meanwhile, this Sunday, the Alianza por el Cambio, which is comprised of the Cambio Democrático and Unión Patriótica and, potentially, the Morilena, will officially announce its nomination for president. The Morilena party candidate Sergio González Ruiz has been wavering between joining forces with the Martinelli-led campaign or Juan Carlos Varela, the Partido Panameñista presidential candidate.

A source close to Martinelli confirmed that should he and his party receive the alliance’s official nomination on Jan. 11, Martinelli would reveal his choice for vice president the same day. When questioned, Martinelli confirmed that he was prepared to make the announcement, although he denied the account yesterday during a press conference.

A meeting at the Cambio Democrático headquarters in Costa del Este this week offered some clues that Unión Patriótica leader José Raúl Mulino is favored as the party’s second-in-command.

In recent conferences, Mulino said that both he and Martinelli are men of their word and make good on their promises. And Martinelli has made clear that just because he has indicated that the vice president could be an independent, does not mean that he does not belong to a registered political party. And then there’s the fact that Mulino has often been photographed grinning beside Martinelli during political events.

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