Development: On 11 October Panama’s electoral authorities (TSE) declared José Domingo Arias the winner of the 7 October presidential primaries for the recently launched Partido Alianza (PA).
Significance: Arias, who took 93.05% of the vote, served as housing minister under the previous Cambio Democrático (CD) government led by President Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014). The election of Arias comes as the race ahead of the May 2019 general election (from which President Juan Carlos Varela is constitutionally barred from running) is picking up. There is no clear frontrunner ahead of the vote, in which, as in previous elections, government corruption is likely to be a major voter concern.
- Arias broke with CD in April and registered with the PA, which received its credentials in March 2018 having been set up by another CD dissident, José Muñoz.
- Arias has been implicated in the goverent corruption scandal involving Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht, which broke in December 2016 amid reports that, as part of a region-wide scheme, over US$59m was paid in bribes to Panamanian government officials between 2010 and 2014 in order to secure public works and infrastructure contracts.
- Last month the CD – which has 25 seats in the 71-member unicameral legislature, the second largest bench behind the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD), which has 26 - chose Rómulo Roux, a former foreign minister (2012-2014), as its presidential candidate ahead of the presidential election.
- Roux defeated former security minister José Raúl Mulino (2009-2014), a loyalist of Martinelli (who was extradited from the US in June to face charges related to his activities whilst in office), by 68.8% of the vote to 29.3%.
- Also last month Laurentino ‘Nito’ Cortizo, a former agriculture minister (2004-2006), won the presidential nomination for the PRD, taking 66.08% of the vote. The PRD last held office in 2004-2009 under former president Martín Torrijos.
Looking Ahead: The ruling Partido Panameñista (PPA), which has just 16 seats in the national assembly, is due to hold primaries on 28 October to elect its presidential candidate.
