Former President Ricardo Martinelli’s hopes of returning to power rest on more than gaining the most votes. Starting Tuesday, and for 10 business days, the hearing of the New Business case in which 20 people, including Martinelli are charged with alleged money laundering which carries a sentence of 5 - 12 years in prison.

 The result of the trial is key to his 2024 political agenda.In the event that the judge determines his guilt, the ruling will surely be appealed before the Second Court of Justice and if the decision is confirmed and appealed again, it will be the Supreme Court of These judicial times may be decisive for his name to appear on the ballot next May 2024. In this context, Martinelli's defense, and the rest of the defendants - most of them businessmen - will do everything in their power to avoid a guilty verdict in the first instance, or in the most immediate scenario, suspend or postpone the hearing. .

The first logical action of the former president's jurists will be to present all possible legal resources to delay the trial. Until now, the Judicial Branch assured that the judge complied with the notification to all parties and that they are prepared to hold the substantive hearing. Similarly, last November when the preliminary hearing was held, alternate public defenders were appointed in order to guarantee the right to defense, in the event that private technical defenders did not appear. In November, the defense of the former president managed to postpone the trial date thanks to two appeals, a challenge against the judge and a medical disability.

DISABILITY 
However, the plenary session that should start tomorrow does not contemplate any further postponements. It is possible that the strategy of Martinelli’s legal team presents a medical disability as a result of a spinal surgery that he underwent last week and that still keeps him in recovery. A fact that the former president made sure to communicate to public opinion through his social networks in which he published images when he was about to enter surgery and later showed the fragments of the damaged disc that were replaced. In such a case, the judge must decide whether to continue the hearing on the merits without the physical presence of Martinelli considering but represented by Luis Eduardo Camacho Jr., the main attorney in the case. Along these same lines, his lawyer, who was unable to respond to this medium's concerns about being 'unwell', will resort to an infinity of legal resources as broad as the creativity and knowledge of his legal team says La Estrella But, in addition to Martinelli's defense strategy, the lawyers for the remaining 19 defendants will do the same, acting on the basis of their own legal interests.The time it takes for the judge to resolve all the appeals, or in any case the period required by a higher court, may allow Martinelli to make judicial times more flexible to strengthen his electoral participation and, in the event of receiving an unfavorable verdict in the first instance, that the period of the appeals prevent his electoral disqualification on December 31, the date on which the Electoral Tribunal must firmly announce all the nominations and proclamations.In the midst of the predictions about what may happen in the trial, there are also those who calculate the political times against the speed in which the case will develop in the courts of first and second instance, until the cassation.Before the end of the trial, scheduled until June 5, the date of the RM presidential primaries stipulated in the electoral calendar on June 4, in which Martinelli will have no problem confirming his presidential candidacy. The New Business case dates back to March 2017, after an investigation by the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office that identified the purchase of the shares of Editora Panamá América through a complex scheme involving legal and natural persons. The Superior Court of Criminal Cases recently admitted documentary evidence and 11 testimonials, but also rejected a warning of unconstitutionality.