a former president “with last name”, a veteran politician with a strong character, a former rock consul and a former minister of the Canal, opponents and mainly from the center-right, are the four presidential candidates, out of eight, with options of winning in the elections from Sunday in Panamaaccording the surveys.
The single-round and simple majority elections have been marked by the challenge of the candidacy of the favorite, José Raúl Mulino (with a 30% of preferences).
The other three with options have between 10% and fifteen% of supports. The remaining four, including the official José Gabriel Carrizo, are around the 5%.
Mulino, Martinelli’s dolphin
José Raúl Mulino, 64, left his farm and his horses to accompany former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) as a candidate for vice president, whose Minister of Security he was.
But Martinelli, asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy after being convicted of money laundering, was disqualified as a candidate and Mulino replaced him.
His candidacy was challenged for not having been elected in primaries or having a running mate, on which the court must rule, without a defined deadline.
Panamanians do not seem to take a toll on the Martinelli government’s repression of protests. This strong-willed lawyer promises to close the passage through the dangerous Darien jungle for hundreds of thousands of migrants.
“Martinelli’s vote is what has me here”says the candidate of the center-right Realizing Goals and Alliance, who uses the slogan “Mulino is Martinelli.”
He was also chancellor and minister of justice. Between 2015 and 2016, he was in preventive detention for corruption, but was released due to procedural errors.
Torrijos, the general’s son
Martín Torrijos, president from 2004 to 2009, returned to the ring after a fight with the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), founded by his father 45 years ago and which he accuses of corruption and abandoning social democratic ideals.
Seek re-election“It was a conscious decision.” the son of the late General Omar Torrijos, the nationalist leader who recovered the Panama Canal from American hands, told AFP.
At 60 years old, this graduate in Economics from Texas A&M University is now running with the small Popular Party (Christian Democrat).
During his government he promoted the expansion of the Panama Canal, which he wants to promote to generate employment, but he bears the responsibility of having introduced the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, accused of bribery in Latin America.
A Real Madrid fan, he has the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez as a literary reference. “We see that world of Macondo in our reality,” he says.
Lombana, the ax against corruption
Ricardo Lombana has been fine-tuning his anti-corruption discourse for years, in a country marked by clientelism. At 50 years old, he is running for the presidency for the second time, promising to limit the use of public funds and eliminate the privileges and privileges of senior officials.
“Let the corrupt prepare themselves because the party is going to end”he told AFP.
During the campaign he brandished an ax as a symbol of his promise, in a possible imitation of the chainsaw of the Argentine president, Javier Milei. In his Other Path Movement (MOCA, center-right) he recruited former officials and independents, especially young people and opposed to mining.
A lawyer and former consul in Washington, this Chicago Cubs fan promised to reduce the cost of electricity with the massive installation of solar panels.
The youngest candidate is an admirer of the late Canadian Neil Peart, of the progressive rock band Rush, and combines politics with his greatest passion: drums.
Roux, Martinelli’s estranged former chancellor
Rómulo Roux, second in the elections in 2019, was Minister of the Canal and Chancellor in the Martinelli government.
But faced with the former president’s judicial troubles, he put his foot down and managed to remove control of Cambio Democrático (center-right), founded by Martinelli in 1998.
This 59-year-old lawyer, with a doctorate in Miami, is now seeking to win the presidency in coalition with the traditional Panameñista Party. But he is troubled by his ties to a copper mining law firm that sparked massive protests in late 2023.
If he wins, he told AFP, he will not give Martinelli safe passage to leave the Nicaraguan embassy: “I’m not going to get into that.”
With the birthdates of his seven children tattooed on one arm, he promised to create 500,000 jobs and make anti-corruption reforms. TikTok user and Real Madrid supporter, he is the candidate most open to the possibility of allowing civil unions between homosexuals.
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- Lombana, the anti-system who seeks to preside over Panama with his fight against corruption
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
