The president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, said this Friday that during the political campaign he warned the Electoral Tribunal (TE) of his country that he would 'set the country on fire from all four corners' if they did not allow him to run for office. 'Believe me because here the right of the Panamanian people to choose will be respected,' recounted Mulino at a press conference following a meeting in San José with the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves. According to Mulino, who made a quick visit to Costa Rica this Friday along with several ministers, in his country they 'stretched the rope to the maximum' and just days before the elections they allowed him to compete. 'I told the three then-magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal: if you conspire to not let me run, I will set this country on fire from all four corners. They almost took me down at the cost of democracy, at the cost of popular will (...),' he stated. 'This happened in Panama with the sponsorship of magistrates from the Electoral Tribunal, media sectors, powerful businessmen, and questionable vote salvages from the Supreme Court of Justice,' expressed the Panamanian leader. According to Mulino, the current reality in Panama is 'different' and he affirmed that he came to government 'without a mortgage' and has no 'partners', 'godfathers', or 'economic groups' behind him. Mulino's statements come at a time when the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, maintains strong tensions with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, an entity that has requested the National Assembly to lift his immunity to advance a disciplinary process for apparent political belligerence, which could lead to his removal from office. Mulino's candidacy was on the line until just days before the May 2024 elections, when the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) declared his presidential candidacy constitutional at the last minute in place of former President Ricardo Martinelli. In March of that year, the Electoral Tribunal disqualified Martinelli from participating in the elections after a conviction of over 10 years in prison for money laundering, which led him to take refuge in the Embassy of Nicaragua in Panama while awaiting safe conduct and is now in asylum in Colombia. 'They knew I was going to win, but behind the election there was a lot of resentment and a lot of hate.'
