Panamanians on Sunday elected José Raúl Mulino, a former public safety minister, as their subsequent president, within the fruits of an election cycle that has been embroiled in political turmoil.
Mr. Mulino, 64, centered his marketing campaign on job progress and promised to extend tourism and construct a rail line connecting Panama Metropolis, the capital, with the nation’s inside that might create development jobs. He additionally pledged to extend agricultural manufacturing, decrease the price of medicines and supply free web entry to varsities.
Mr. Mulino acquired 34 % of the vote with greater than 90 % of the votes counted on Sunday, based on the nation’s electoral tribunal, which declared him the winner of the single-round race. He had a ten proportion level lead over his closest competitor, Ricardo Lombana, a former diplomat. Mr. Mulino will assume workplace on July 1, taking on from the departing president, Laurentino Cortizo.
“It’s an honor for me, for my household, for my pals, to obtain this name,” Mr. Mulino stated in a victory speech in Panama Metropolis on Sunday night time. His election, he stated, “implies an infinite weight on my shoulders,” including that he promised to do his finest for the nation.
In a area of eight candidates, Mr. Mulino led the polls, vowing to return Panama to the financial progress it skilled underneath Ricardo Martinelli, who was president from 2009 to 2014.
Mr. Martinelli, who is understood to his supporters as “El loco,” or the loopy one, had been a high presidential contender till he was disqualified earlier this 12 months due to a money-laundering conviction in 2023. However from contained in the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama Metropolis, the place he was granted asylum, Mr. Martinelli strenuously campaigned for Mr. Mulino, who was his working mate and took his place on the poll.
Mr. Mulino’s marketing campaign adopted the slogan “The loopy one with Mulino.”
Carlos Taylor, 71, a waiter, stated that he had not had time to learn Mr. Mulino’s proposals. He voted for him at a public faculty in Panama Metropolis due to Mr. Martinelli.
“With solely the truth that Martinelli is accompanying him, I belief him,” he stated. “When Martinelli was president, all the things was higher for us.”
He dismissed Mr. Martinelli’s cash laundering conviction, saying that different public officers steal however, not like the previous president, don’t get investigated for it.
“Everybody does it,” he stated.
Political chaos characterised the election, which passed off amid widespread frustration with the present authorities and within the aftermath of main protests final 12 months towards a copper-mining contract that demonstrators stated would harm the setting.
The candidates competed for a five-year time period in a single-round vote. Panama doesn’t allow incumbent presidents to run for a second consecutive time period. Voters additionally selected representatives for the Nationwide Meeting and native governments.
Panama has emerged as one of many Western Hemisphere’s fastest-growing economies due to the growth of the Panama Canal, free-trade agreements which have drawn traders and using the US greenback as an area forex.
However in March, Panama’s credit standing was downgraded by the Fitch Rankings company. The nation’s financial output is predicted to develop solely 2.5 % this 12 months, down from 7.5 % in 2023.
That slowdown is basically a results of the Supreme Courtroom’s resolution to declare the copper mining contract unconstitutional and the federal government’s subsequent resolution to shut the mine, in accordance the Worldwide Financial Fund. (The World Financial institution forecasts sooner progress beginning subsequent 12 months.)
Mr. Mulino must cope with a bunch of different points, together with a worsening humanitarian disaster as tons of of 1000’s of migrants cross a jungle path straddling Panama and Colombia referred to as the Darién Hole. Help teams have reported an alarming spike in assaults alongside the Panamanian facet of the hole, together with rape.
The president-elect has pledged to close down the crossing and deport migrants who break Panamanian legislation, saying that he “won’t allow 1000’s of illegals to cross via our territory like nothing, with out management.”
Water issues had been additionally a central election situation. A latest drought pushed by low rainfall has diminished water ranges within the Panama Canal, leading to fewer ships being allowed via. Mr. Mulino promised to make clear water out there in communities that lack it.
He additionally vowed to handle the excessive deficit plaguing Panama’s pension system and to create new jobs in a rustic that struggles with a scarcity of expert labor and a excessive variety of casual employees.
Like different candidates, Mr. Mulino prevented pertaining to contentious social points and didn’t emphasize a specific political ideology in his marketing campaign.
Regardless of Mr. Martinelli’s disqualification, Mr. Mulino’s marketing campaign used the previous president’s picture in promotional supplies and leaned closely on his legacy, which incorporates overseeing a multibillion-dollar growth of the Panama Canal and inaugurating a subway system in Panama Metropolis.
Mr. Mulino referred to as Mr. Martinelli’s corruption trial, which resulted in a 10-year sentence, a “setup” and stated that he had been politically persecuted, too.
In 2015, Mr. Mulino was arrested and spent a number of months in jail on expenses of embezzlement tied to a multimillion-dollar contract he signed in 2010 for the acquisition of radars when he served as a public safety minister underneath Mr. Martinelli.
The Supreme Courtroom later dominated that there had been procedural violations and upheld a decrease court docket’s dismissal of the costs, though it left the chance that the case may very well be reopened. (On Friday, the excessive court docket dominated that Mr. Mulino’s candidacy was authorized after a problem argued that he shouldn’t be within the race as a result of he isn’t working alongside a vice-presidential candidate because the nation’s Structure requires.)
It’s unclear what Mr. Mulino’s win will imply for Mr. Martinelli’s scenario. Panama’s Overseas Ministry has declined Nicaragua’s request to permit Mr. Martinelli to depart the nation.
Mary Triny Zea contributed reporting from Panama Metropolis.
