Polls open in Panama’s general elections

Panamanians began voting this Sunday in a general election agitated by the controversial former president Ricardo Martinelli, whose Dolphin is the favorite to win the presidency of a country burdened by corruption and a bleak economic and social outlook.

Lines of voters form early at the voting centers, open at 7:00 a.m. local time, with the raising of the Panamanian flag at the Electoral Tribunal.

Eight candidates are seeking power, but the spotlight is on José Raúl Mulino, candidate of the Realizing Goals party (RM, founded by Martinelli), who surpasses his three immediate rivals by about 20 points, according to polls.

The former social democratic president Martín Torrijos, son of General Omar Torrijos, who negotiated with Washington the delivery of the Panama Canal, and the center-right lawyers Rómulo Roux and Ricardo Lombana, appear as options, in case of a surprise.

Mulino, a 64-year-old right-wing lawyer with a strong character and gray hair, took over from Martinelli after he was disqualified as a candidate after a conviction against him for money laundering was reaffirmed.

After voting early on Sunday, Mulino plans to visit the 74-year-old magnate at the Nicaraguan embassy, ​​where he sought asylum in February due to his imminent capture.

Just two days before the vote, the Supreme Court of Justice endorsed Mulino’s candidacy, which had been challenged for not having gone through primaries or having a vice president on the payroll.

In addition to electing a ruler for the next five years in single-round elections, three million of the 4.4 million Panamanians are called upon to choose 71 deputies and local governments. Source: news

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