Panama’s presidential election is being held on Sunday, but the country faces a strange situation: the most powerful player in the race is not voting.
The Central American country’s former president Ricardo Martinelli, known to his supporters as “El Loco” (the crazy one), was a front-runner until he was disqualified by a money laundering conviction. .
However, from inside the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, where Martinelli was granted asylum, campaigning vigorously for Jose Raul Murinohis running mate and former public security minister who appeared on the ballot in his place.
Mulino leads polls among eight candidates and has vowed to return Panama to the economic growth experienced under Martinelli, who was president from 2009 to 2014.
The election, held in the aftermath of widespread dissatisfaction with the current government and last year’s massive protests against a copper mining contract that demonstrators said would damage the environment, has been marked by political turmoil. .
Candidates compete for five-year terms on a single ballot, and whoever receives the highest percentage of votes wins. Voters will also choose their representatives in parliament and local government.
Opinion polls show Mulino with a lead of more than 10 percentage points over his closest rivals. They are Martín Torrijos, former president and son of the Panamanian dictator who negotiated with the United States to give Panama control of the Panama Canal. Mr. Romulo Lu, former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Former diplomat Ricardo Lombana. Another candidate, Jose Gabriel Carrizo, known as Gaby, is the current vice president.
Panama has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the Western Hemisphere, thanks to the expansion of the Panama Canal, free trade agreements that have attracted investors, and the use of the US dollar as the local currency.
But most candidates say the country is moving in the wrong direction, pointing out that: Panama’s credit rating was downgraded in March. The country’s economic output is expected to grow by 2.5% this year, slowing from 7.5% growth in 2023.
This slowdown was largely due to the Supreme Court declaring the copper mining contract unconstitutional and the government subsequently shutting down the mine. (The World Bank predicts growth will accelerate starting next year.)
The next president will also have to grapple with a number of other issues, including a worsening humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of migrants pass through the jungle path that straddles Panama and Colombia, known as the Darien Gap. Aid groups have reported an alarming spike in assaults, including rape, in Panama.
Mulino promised to close the border and deport migrants who break Panama’s laws, saying: “We will not allow thousands of illegal immigrants to cross our territory unchecked.” Stated.
This position has been criticized by other candidates, including Mr. Lombana, who argued that Panama should instead manage migration flows through diplomatic agreements with other countries and protect migrants from organized crime.
Water issues are also a central issue in the election. The recent drought caused by less rainfall than usual has lowered water levels in the Panama Canal, reducing the number of ships that can pass through it. The candidates promised to make clean water available to communities that lack it.
They also vowed to address the high budget deficit plaguing Panama’s pension system and create new jobs in a country suffering from a shortage of skilled workers and a large number of undocumented workers.
“The next president has to be a self-deprecating president because he’s going to have an agenda full of real structural challenges,” said Daniel Zovatto, a global fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank. ” he says.
Despite Martinelli’s disqualification, Mulino’s campaign continues to use his image in promotional materials and relies heavily on his accomplishments, including overseeing the multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal and opening the Panama City subway system. I’ve done it.
Mr. Mulino calls Mr. Martinelli’s corruption trial, which ended with a 10-year prison sentence, “a set-up” and claims that he too was subject to political persecution.
Mr. Mulino was arrested in 2015 on embezzlement charges related to a multimillion-dollar contract he signed to buy radar in 2010, when he was public security minister under Mr. Martinelli, and spent several months in prison. Ta.
The Supreme Court later ruled that there had been a procedural violation and upheld the lower court’s dismissal of the charges, but left open the possibility that the case could be reopened. (On Friday, the High Court ruled that Mulino’s candidacy was legal, following a challenge that he should not run because he was not running alongside the constitutionally required running mate. ).
Mulino, like other candidates, has focused his campaign on job growth, pledging to expand tourism and create construction jobs by building a railroad linking Panama City to the interior. . He also promised to increase agricultural production, lower the cost of medicines and provide free internet access to schools.
As President of Panama from 2004 to 2009, Torrijos proposed a referendum in which Panamanians would approve the modernization of the Panama Canal. Among other things, he vowed to oppose mining activities in the country.
Mr. Lu, a former foreign minister, said he would create 500,000 new jobs over five years and cut taxes for people earning less than $1,500 a month, while Mr. Lombana, a former diplomat, said he would focus on fighting corruption. It is being raised. In his campaign, he promised to restore stolen money and significantly increase the judicial budget.
Voters interviewed in Panama City in the days before the election expressed a variety of opinions about the political drama that has revolved around Mr. Mulino’s campaign.
Andres Espinoza, 78, a retiree, said he plans to vote for Mulino because of Martinelli’s accomplishments. He said the former president was facing political persecution and that the opposition was trying to “remove him and make things up.”
Viterbo Barrias González, 76, a private security guard, declined to say who he planned to vote for, but said Martinelli had voted. I was treated unfairly. Mr. Martinelli’s years in power were such a prosperous time that “there was no one who didn’t eat ham at Christmas and New Year’s,” he said.
But civil engineer Federico Herrera, 40, said Mr Mulino’s participation in the presidential election represented “everything that is wrong in Panama” and said that despite the conviction, he and Mr Martinelli remained together. He pointed out that they maintain visible alliances. He said he planned to vote for Mr. Lombana.
“Panama’s biggest problem is corruption. Corruption attacks from all levels: education, health, roads,” Herrera said. “Money needs to go where it’s needed, not into politicians’ pockets.”
Other voters said they had not yet decided on their preferred candidate.
Harry Brown Arauz, a researcher at the International Center for Political and Social Research, a research institute in Panama City, said voters could be confused because multiple candidates were affiliated with the same party at one time.
He added that the race does not revolve around clear differences in political ideology.
“The majority of people say they don’t know who to vote for, even if they know an individual who is running for office. That’s because the lines between political parties are blurring,” he said. Stated.
mary trinny there I contributed a report from Panama City.