Ricardo Martinelli - Presidency

Presidency

Martinelli introduced a number of measures designed to alleviate poverty, including a $100 monthly pension for the elderly, an increase in the minimum wage, and subsidies for students to meet the cost of uniforms and supplies.

Twice during his first year in office, Martinelli proposed and signed into law tax reform to simplify filings, reduce rates and improve collection. The numbers of income brackets were reduced from 5 to 2, the corporate rate was cut to 25% and delinquent collection was outsourced. A spokesperson for Fitch Group stated that the tax reform "underpin the government's commitment to sustainable fiscal policies."

As of 2010, Martinelli's administration also planned to spend $20 billion over the next four years on infrastructure designed to enhance Panama's role as a global logistics hub and increase foreign direct investment. The plan includes greater investment in roads, hospitals, sewers, schools, and a Panama City metro. Fitch Group called the "ambitious public investment program" part of "Panama's highly favorable investment cycle."

Martinelli also oversaw the final approval of the Panama–United States Trade Promotion Agreement, which was signed more than two years before he took office but had not been finalized. Martinelli had designated the completion of this agreement as his top priority upon taking office. The agreement was ratified by the US Congress on October 13, 2011.

In 2010, Panama's sovereign debt rating was upgraded to "investment grade" by Fitch, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's. Fitch had upgraded Panama twice since Martinelli took office, and Standard & Poor's followed their upgrade with a revised "positive" outlook. The Fitch's upgrade was described as "a victory for conservative President Ricardo Martinelli, who has pushed two tax reforms through Congress since taking office". In 2011, however, The Economist described the foreign investment as still hurt by "doubts about the rule of law", citing suspected corruption in the bidding for the metro contract and the flooding of a wealthy Panama City neighborhood with sewage due to a lack of enforcement of planning laws.

Martinelli was criticized during his presidency for authoritarian tactics. He sought to reduce the time period before the president could run for re-election, and was accused of tampering with the Supreme Court. In August 2009, US Ambassador to Panama Barbara J. Stephenson wrote to the US State Department that Martinelli had asked her for wiretaps on his political opponents, and she complained of his "bullying style" and "autocratic tendencies". A copy of the cable was released in December 2010 by WikiLeaks. Martinelli's administration stated after the leak that "help in tapping the telephones of politicians was never requested" and that Stephenson was "mistaken" in her interpretation.

Initially popular, Martinelli's approval ratings fell by 2012. In December 2011, former military ruler Manuel Noriega was extradited from France to Panama by Martinelli's government. Critics charged that Martinelli had requested the extradition to turn public attention away from administration scandals, an accusation denied by the French and Panamanian governments. A May 2012 poll by Unimer reported that 55% of Panamanians rated Martinelli a "bad" or "very bad" president, a record low. His popularity had been harmed by corruption scandals, including a claim that he had taken bribes from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's aide Valter Lavitola.