Public Debate Over Political Ads and Freedom of Speech
(http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20080814075016180) This week Panama's Tribunal Electoral (Electoral Tribunal) (TE) ordered the provisional suspension of two political ads. One was being run on behalf of the Juan Carlos Navarro presidential primary campaign for his internal election within the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) political party. The other was run by Ricardo Martinelli from the Cambio Democratico (CD) political party against Juan Carlos Varela of the Panamanistas. This order from the TE has sparked a debate in Panama over the need to balance free speech and the right for the people to have access to the truth, against the perception of a need to "defend the honor" of the person in the ad. This debate is just getting off the ground. You can see videos of the political ads in question below. (more)
In This Corner: This first ad was run by Juan Carlos Navarro which takes a swipe at Balbina Herrera. One of Juan Carlos Navarro's personal bodyguards was shot and killed by a minor last year, and ever since that happened he has been (without a doubt) the strongest advocate for a tough crackdown on street crime, delinquency, and crime in general. In short, he practically "owns" the issue, politically speaking. The video ad which appeared on television basically portrays Balbina Herrera as being weak on crime, because in an interview she said that the current laws against crime and delinquents "are sufficient" and therefore she would not support a crackdown. In contrast, Juan Carlos Navarro promises to take a bite out of crime, and paints himself as the crackdown candidate. Here's the video:
Ricardo Martinelli vs. Juan Carlos Varela: The second controversial political ad was placed by the presidential political campaign of Ricardo Martinelli and his Cambio Democratico (CD) party against Juan Carlos Varela of the Panamanistas. The growing split between the CD and Juan Carlos Varela is interesting, considering they both represent opposition parties and that up until last week there was a chance for a unification of their political efforts to make a combined run against the PRD. It is now painfully obvious that Ricardo Martinelli now has no intention whatsoever in joining forces with the Panamanistas, and what's more he has now turned his attack ads against Varela. In this spot, Martinelli paints Varela as having a "fresh face" but the "bones of an old politician." They highlight video in which Varela campaigned against the expansion of the Panama Canal, as well as the "kiss of death" - an endorsement from Mireya Moscoso. Here's the controversial video which has been banned by the TE:
What's The Standard Going To Be? I have no idea where the TE will come down on this controversy. It's a freedom of speech issue, and both ads just use old video clips of the opponents in which they make statements (back then) that might be coming back to haunt them now. In my personal opinion, catching a politician in a flip-flop is fair play. If the person made the statement in a public setting as in an interview, and it's on video tape, then it's on the record and should be considered basic ground truth as far as I'm concerned. In their complaints against these videos, Herrera and Varela are complain their images are being used against them without their consent. Understand the suspension of these video ads is both provisional and temporary - the TE has indicated they have not made a final ruling as of yet. They might eventually decide the ads are fine and they can return to the air. But speed is of the essence, especially in the case of Juan Carlos Navarro vs. Balbina Herrera - the PRD primary is only about three weeks away.
A New Endara Presidential Poster: Last night a new poster promoting Guillermo Endara as a presidential candidate appeared on Via España - the credit for spotting it goes to my sharp-eyed son who saw it this morning and said "that was not there yesterday..." Very (and I mean very) interesting. On Monday this week Endara said they would have a "big surprise" announcement during the week. If he announced that he was running as a primary candidate, then I missed the announcement. In any case, it now looks like in May 2009 we will have a virtual replay of the 2004 election - three opposition candidates (Endara, Varela, and Martinelli) against whoever wins the PRD primary. Please notice that two of the names running as opposition candidates in 2004 are repeats, Endara and Martinelli. Last time Endara got 30% and Martinelli only 5%. The only change in the lineup is that Varela will be batting for Jose Miguel Aleman. In this scenario, a fragmented opposition with the vote going in a three-way split, there is no hope whatsoever of an opposition win. None. Forget about it. It's over. Who ever wins the PRD primary will be the next president of Panama.
Called It In January 2005: For the record, "I told you so." I predicted this exact scenario in January of 2005, more than four years before the election which will be held in May 2009. Sorry, but the leaders of the political opposition parties in Panama appear to be a bunch of egocentric morons who only care about obtaining political power for themselves. If there was a true and real problem with the leadership of the country, and if a majority of the people were clamoring for actual change, then the people would force the opposition politicians to unite and to face the PRD as a single unit. In truth and fact, the majority of the people simply are not all that disenfranchised with the PRD. A good majority of them think Martin Torrijos and his administration are doing a pretty good job on the big stuff - most notably the economy. Panama has the fastest growing economy in all of Latin America so you can't hit Torrijos on economic issues. They are seen as weak on issues of internal safety and security (which they are addressing right now with a law to reform the security apparatus in the country) and public transportation. Most people are pissed off about inflation and the rising cost of living, but the general population seems to understand that much of those price pressures come from outside of Panama, and that it's not fair to blame Martin Torrijos for things that are beyond his control. No matter what happens, if the opposition does not unite into a single block with only one candidate, then they as three individual candidates do not have any chance of winning. With that being the case, then they deserve to lose. See you in 2014.
