politics

Sandra Noriega’s nomination defended

Jorge fernández/la prensa

unified: PRD running mates Balbina Herrera and Juan Carlos Navarro attend a meeting held by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares yesterday to demonstrate party unity.1146850

Partido Repúblicano Democrático presidential candidate Balbina Herrera defended the party’s nomination of Sandra Noriega, daughter of former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, for a position at the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).

“Children can’t be made to pay for the mistakes of their parents,” said Herrera, who opined that Sandra Noriega deserved to be respected for her own achievements despite her father’s notoriety.

She added that the public must be careful not to take the approach of pursuing past crimes because it may lead the country to revert to its old ways.

Herrera argued that the 300 delegates of the National Board had elected Noriega “democratically,” and claimed that Noriega went out canvassing for votes, in contrast to those party members who are appointed to their posts.

Noriega achieved a majority of the vote within the PRD’s National Directory, which has 289 delegates. The Unión Patriótica party elected another 12 candidates for the PARLACEN.

Herrera, whose popularity has slipped significantly in recent polls, commented on the issue during a meeting hosted by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares and PRD vice presidential candidate Juan Carlos Navarro in an attempt to demonstrate party unity following the opposition party’s recent announcement of its decision to nominate Ricardo Martinelli as its presidential candidate.

“This meeting is a message of unity and is our desire to resolve all misunderstandings of the past,” said Pérez Balladares, who was one of the party’s presidential hopefuls who lost the nomination to Herrera in last year’s primary elections.

The PARLACEN is a diplomatic forum with representatives from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvado, Nicaragua and Panama that meets periodically to discuss socio-political and trade issues affecting the region.

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