A similar ploy was recently used by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua to run for re-election despite an explicit constitutional ban. There, a friendly Supreme Court nullified presidential term limits and enabled Ortega to run again (and win).
The Panamanian minority opposition was able to successfully filibuster the bill reinstating the Fifth Court. However, thanks to the ruling by the Supreme Court last year, Martinelli is now threatening to appoint the three new justices even without a bill passed by Congress reinstating the Fifth Court. A constitutional crisis seems inevitable.
Panamanians are worried. A recent poll by the daily La Prensa showed that 70% of Panamanians regarded Martinelli as "authoritarian" and 73 percent were concerned about the future of democracy their country. The government's repressive handling of the protests by the indigenous Ngäbe people - who oppose mining projects in their lands - confirms these fears. The Minister of Security admitted that the government suspended all phone communications in the conflicted region, violating constitutional rights and resembling the actions of authoritarian regimes such as those in Egypt and Syria.
The media has also documented the use of firearms against protestors.
With the memories of Panama's recent past under Manuel Antonio Noriega still fresh, the repressive character with which the government responded to the protests have generated outrage among the majority of Panamanians.
Ricardo Martinelli is the most dangerous man for democracy and the rule of law in Central America after Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.
