Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli called together a room full of his hand-picked notary publics (all members of his political party) to witness a declaration stating that he will not try to change the constitution to allow him to run again in 2014.
The problem is, few people beleive him.
Martinelli's popularity is at an all time low after he broke his promise - made only 11 months ago - to not to allow mining or electrical dams to be built in the Ngables Buglë Indian territory. He then lied, and said he never made such a promise - despite the fact he made the promise in writing, on his website. That section of his website has since been taken down.
The President's approval rating continues to slide following exposure of lies regarding the government-ordered shut down of cellular servise in the area just prior to the police intervention, and the shooting death of a sixteen year old native protester. The government's handling of the situation resulted in road-closures and protests across the nation.
The Presdident was away attending the Superbowl when the shooting and riot police moved in - the same riot police that shot and killed two protestors and blinded many more when they shot buck-shot into the faces of the protestors.
The national backlash and threats of strikes, marches, road-closures and protests forced the government to back down and promise once again not to allow mining on Indian owned lands. The issue of hydro-electric dams on Indian lands was not included in that promise.
Here is a report from AS/COA (Americas Society/ Council of the Americas)
Panamanian President Pledges Not to Seek Reelection
Amid popular speculation that he would seek an unconstitutional second term, Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli signed a pledge on February 14 not to seek reelection. The Americas Quarterly blog reports the pledge comes as Martinelli’s poll numbers plummeted—from 80 percent to 33 percent—following his controversial handling of last week’s Ngäbes Buglé indigenous protests.
