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Caribbean & Central America - May 2014 (ISSN 1741-4458)
Varela surprises in Panama vote
Defying all opinion polls, Vice-President Juan Carlos Varela, of the conservative opposition Partido Panameñista (PPA), triumphed in the 4 May presidential elections, defeating the favourite - José Domingo Arias of President Ricardo Martinelli’s Cambio Democrático (CD) and Juan Carlos Navarro, of the leftist opposition Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD). On the surface the result, which signals a return to power for the PPA which last held the presidency a decade ago under Mireya Moscoso (1999-2004), appeared a surprise given the popularity of the Martinelli government. Yet with Arias widely considered a proxy for President Martinelli, who was constitutionally barred from running, Varela’s victory belies more general concerns about Martinelli’s continued grip on Panama’s institutions. This in a country until comparatively recently under military dictatorships (1968-1989) and where no party has won immediate re-election since the return to democracy in 1990.
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