With ample support Laurentino Cortizo won the primaries of the PRD Party

PANAMA - In Brief 17 Sep 2018 by Marco Fernandez

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Laurentino Cortizo (Nito) was elected presidential candidate of the PRD for the May 2019 elections in Sunday’s primaries. Several key issues are relevant for the future: (1) The participation of the party members was higher than expectations (60.5% of the affiliated members, or more than three hundred thousand valid votes ) despite a rainy weather; (2) Cortizo obtained two thirds of the votes, more than expected for the winner in what was considered a potentially close battle between three of the candidates; (3) Zulay Rodriguez, a populist legislator came in second with twenty percent of the votes; and (4) Ernesto Pérez Balladares, former President (1994-1999), a reformist economist, obtained less than ten percent of the votes, a surprisingly poor result.PRD is likely to win next years elections given the support shown in the primaries for the party and for Cortizo. He is a 65 years-old with an MBA from University of Texas at Austin. He was Vice-presidential candidate in the Martin Torrijos ticket during the (failed) campaign of 1999. Cortizo was elected to the Legislative Assembly during two periods (1994-2004). Torrijos appointed him as Minister of Agriculture from 2004 to 2006, when Cortizo resigned in protest for the agriculture and livestock clauses of the FTA with USA. He is a protectionist in international trade. Torrijos, however, gave his backing to Cortizo in this primary campaign.Even if the new candidate is not a reformer -he dodged questions about pensions and tax reforms- he promised to bring to his Cabinet individuals who had experience with economic policies, in the Torrijos years as well as in Perez Balladares’. He promised to undertake a Constitutiona...