Mulino's triumph and prospects for reforms ahead

PANAMA - In Brief 06 May 2024 by Marco Fernandez

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As we forecast in our previous report, José Raúl Mulino was elected President of the Republic of Panama for the period July 2024 to June 2029. He garnered 34.3% of the vote, nearly ten percentage points ahead of Ricardo Lombana, who might have won if there were a runoff. Mulino, whose electoral strength stems from former President Ricardo Martinelli, who is in asylum at the Nicaraguan embassy, leveraged his popularity to secure a solid victory with the slogan "We will put money back in the voters' pockets", reminiscent of the boom years of 2009-2013. In his victory speech, he declared himself pro-business and emphasized that his government would honor the public debt, including accounts payable to suppliers. He also mentioned that he would prioritize economic reactivation, job creation, and improving drinking water services. The ruling party, PRD, whose candidate was the current Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo, only obtained 5.8% of the vote, despite being the majority party in terms of registrations. Preliminary results from the Legislative Assembly also favor Mulino with a possible simple majority (37 out of 71 deputies), although significant negotiation will be required. The 13 legislators elected from the current government (PRD and Molirena parties) apparently engaged in pre-election negotiations to collaborate with Mulino. Similarly, the CD party (formerly Martinelli's party) of Rómulo Roux, who garnered 11% of the votes and was part of First Quantum's legal team, obtained 8 legislators. Roux supported Mulino in his victory speech last night, implying collaboration in the legislature. The Mulino/Martinelli coalition secured 16 deputies (RM parties, Alliance, ...