CENTRAL AMERICA

 

Panama's Presidential Candidate Promises Fight Against Corruption

Panamanian presidential candidate from the opposition, Ricardo Martinelli, said on Thursday that corruption was the main challenge his country must face in the near future.

"We must change the image of Panama," Martinelli told Xinhua.

Martinelli said his intention was to promote public investments without waiting to see who would be benefit from it.

Panama is one Latin American country with severe polarization between the rich and the poor, according to the United Nations Development Program.

Martinelli said that due to the world financial crisis, the country must do more to attract investments and continue to increase employment opportunities.

He said Panama also needs to improve its information transparency in the public's interest.

"It is said that everything (information of public interest) is on the Internet, but that is not true. What is published on the Internet is only what the government wants," Martinelli said.

He said the justice system in his country was not working properly and needed to be improved.

Martinelli, from the Democratic Change Party, was defeated by current President Martin Torrijos in the previous election. His rivals in the current elections are Balbina Herrera from the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and former president Guillermo Endara.

Martinelli has been denounced by Herrera for doing business through a supermarket bonus system with Colombian businessman David Murica, who is involved in a political campaign donation scandal.

But Martinelli's supporters said the transactions were normal, and many Panamanian companies also used them.