PANAMA CITY (AP) — On a relatively calm election day with a good turnout of voters, Panamanians went to the polls on Sunday to choose the new president for the next five years with the spotlight focused on former president Ricardo Martinelli, excluded from the fight for a conviction against him, and his leader, the leading candidate José Raúl Mulino.
Mulino led the preferences of that part of the population that still supports Martinelli and sees in his replacement a hope that splendor will return to the country in the face of its economic slowdown. While his three most direct rivals – former president Martín Torrijos and two candidates who participated in the last 2019 elections, Ricardo Lombana and Rómulo Roux – sought to avoid the return of “Martinellism” to power with a constant reminder of the corruption scandals .
“We think Mulino can play a good role,” said Yanela Ríos, a 58-year-old housewife who voted early in Boca la Caja, a slum neighborhood of concrete and tin-roofed houses that is embedded in the middle of luxurious residential skyscrapers. in Panama City. “If, in reality, he has a different mentality in helping the people and the one who put him in that position (Martinelli), he will be good for the country.”
Juan José Tinoco, a 63-year-old tourist transporter, acknowledged having given his support to Mulino. “Here we have money, this is a country that has a lot of money, but we need a leader who thinks and is truly dedicated to the interests of Panama,” he defended from early on.
With the sun setting on the day, the first voters began to arrive at the voting centers after 7:00 in the morning, in one of the most intricate electoral processes in the recent history of Panama. The booths at the more than 7,574 tables throughout the country will be open until 4:00 p.m. (2100 GMT).
At an entrance to the neighborhood, an elderly woman placed a flag with the letters RM (Realizing Goals) outside her house, where she hung her washed clothes and a banner that said “Help the crazy,” in reference to Martinelli.
The former president, sentenced for money laundering to more than 10 years in prison, is politically disqualified and has taken refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy since February in the Nicaraguan embassy after receiving political asylum, intensely supported the campaign of his co-religionist and trusted man.
Mulino, who voted after 9:00 in the morning after being received at the Atlapa convention center shouting “you feel, you feel, Mulino president,” replaced Martinelli on the payroll of the Realizing Goals and Alliance parties. He was on the verge of being left out of the electoral race due to a lawsuit that sought to declare his candidacy unconstitutional and it was not until Friday morning that the Supreme Court ruled to keep Mulino in the presidential race.
After voting, the candidate visited Martinelli at the embassy. “Brother,” he told him, before embracing him in a hug at the diplomatic headquarters. The government of Panama has previously protested to the government of Nicaragua for allowing the former president to carry out political activities.
“Everyone said if (Martinelli) runs, he wins,” Ragnhild Melzi, vice president of Public Programs and Corporate Relations at Americas Society/Council of the Americas in New York, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Mulino is the successor and I think he benefits from what Martinelli had, from the positive that a very large part of the Panamanian people saw in him. “The dynamism that there was.”
The winning candidate will have to deal with the great challenges of migration through the Darién Gap and the water crisis in the Panama Canal, which together with the closure of a copper mine after mass protests last year will contract the economy, according to experts.
Judith Wald, 48 years old and who said that she does all kinds of ventures to look for money, assured that she voted for Martinelli in 2009, but that this time she did not vote for her candidate. “Mulino is running for him (Martinelli). I have not listened to his proposals, he evaded all the debates, he did not convince me at all. “Martinelli wants Mulino to win so that he can be pardoned.”
“We have problems with the economy, work and health that have led us to a moment of crisis,” claimed Carmen González, a 56-year-old housewife who came to vote with her mother Manuela, 81. “Let’s hope that all this is for the good. I hope that the next president does things well and fulfills each of the promises.” His support went to Lombana, one of the three who is behind Mulino and the first of the candidates who He also went to vote on Sunday in ATLAPA.
According to analysts, this election in Panama is one of the most complex in its modern history.
“The vote is marked by greater political fragmentation and social unrest under outgoing president Laurentino Cortizo,” said Arantza Alonso, senior analyst for the Americas at the strategic and risk consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft based in Bath, England. In an analysis sent He told AP that a survey from early April showed that almost a quarter (23%) of citizens were undecided or little inclined towards any of the candidates, which indicates “the low levels of satisfaction of Panamanians with the candidates offered.” ”.
Mulino has offered to usher in a prosperous economy like the one seen during the Martinelli government (2009-2014) and stop migration through the Darién Gap, the dangerous jungles that link Colombia and Panama and that were crossed through million migrants last year.
While Torrijos, Lombana and Roux have offered to change the country, with reforms to the Constitution to dismantle, according to them, the structures that allow corruption and impunity. The three aimed their darts in the final stretch of the campaign against Mulino.
“We are calm, happy to be here, with a lot of hope; Today Panama, the youth, wins,” said Lombana upon arriving to vote. The 50-year-old lawyer received strong support from the young vote in the last elections.
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2024-05-07 02:03:02
