By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The last person to win a Presidential election in Panama with more than 50% of the vote was Guillermo Endara in May 1989. In reality that election was more about trying to get rid of the hated military dictator Manual Antonio Noriega and less about wide-spread support for Endara. And although Endara beat Carlos Duque by a 3-to-1 margin, Noriega "called off the election and declared the results void." It eventually took an invasion by the US military and Operation Just Cause to overthrow Noriega and install the democratically elected Guillermo Endara. Since then there have been four democratic elections (1994, 1999, 2004, and 2009). Of those, Ricardo Martinelli is the first to win with a clear mandate. In 1994 the PRD's Ernesto "Toro" Perez Balladares beat a raft of splintered opposition candidates and won the presidency with only 33.3% of the vote. In 1999 Mireya Moscoso managed only 45% of the votes, narrowly beating Martin Torrijos who got 38% in that election. Torrijos came back to win in 2004 with 47% of the vote, beating three opposition candidates, the closest being Guillermo Endara with 30%. And now Ricardo Martinelli becomes the first democratically elected Panamanian president of the post-dictatorship era to be elected with more than 50% of the vote, and when it's all said and done he will probably have about 60% total, compared to Balbina Herrera who was unable to draw a single vote above the traditional PRD hard-core voters at 36%. And, it should be noted this election came off almost exactly as predicted by the pre-election polling results, and there were absolutely no surprises here.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Over here near the El Panama hotel someone is firing off some really heavyweight fireworks to celebrate the declared election of Ricardo Martinelli as the next President of the Republic. There were about five or six, real window-shakers (or maybe that was Balbina's head exploding...) Ricardo Martinelli just spoke to his supporters as he left his room at the Marriott hotel, and he is now making his way to the Atlapa Convention Center to meet with the Electoral Tribunal to formally receive their results declaring him as the president-elect. Most of the important Ambassadors to Panama are also waiting for his arrival at the Atlapa Convention Center and right now he's driving over there from the Marriott. After that's done, Martinelli will attend a celebration at the El Panama hotel. And still, I can't get a single word out of anyone with numbers on the results for the Mayor of Panama City race. If someone gets something official please send them to me...

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Earlier in the campaign the "word" on Ricardo Martinelli was "...but he's crazy..." Then somewhere in the interior of Panama during the carnival season, there were two groups in the same area - one from the PRD and one from Ricardo Martinelli. The PRD supporters started changing "loco, loco..." saying Martinelli was nuts. The Martinelli supporters responded with "Los Locos Somos Mas..." (There's More Of Us Locos...) That incident turned into the slogan for the campaign of Ricardo Martinelli - "Los Locos Somos Mas" and a song by DJ Black that resonated with the young voters in Panama. Now, the celebrations begin...

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - OK, the election of Ricardo Martinelli was in the bag since late January 2009 when he and Juan Carlos Varela established their "Grand Opposition Alliance." The math is relatively easy - the PRD simply cannot beat the opposition when the opposition is united, and conversely the opposition cannot beat the PRD if they are fragmented. As soon as the four primary opposition parties united behind Ricardo Martinelli the die was cast, so the announcement of his win is practically anti-climatic. The real contest in this election is between Bobby Velasquez from the PRD and Bosco Vallarino for the opposition (with Miguel Antonio Bernal as an also-ran candidate) for the position of Mayor of Panama City. Weeks ago I predicted Bosco Vallarino would win - thanks to a combination of damage done to Bobby Velasquez by the David Murcia campaign donations scandal, and partly because I thought he might get swept-in on a wave of support for Ricardo Martinelli. So far I still have not seen any election returns for the race for Mayor of Panama City, so that's the next big one...

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - At of 6:30 pm local time in Panama City, opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli from the "Alliance for Change" is leading with 60% of the vote (353,237 votes) compared to Balbina Herrera with 36% of the vote (219,234 votes). "Also ran" candidate Guillermo Endara is barely registering in the returns with only 2% of the vote (15,769 votes.) It's safe to say at this point the tendencies have been established. For this election exactly 2,211,261 Panamanians were eligible to vote. So far the early returns indicated a participation rate of about 80%, so it would be reasonable to expect about 1.7 million votes will have been cast in this election once it's all said and done. At the time of this report at total of 588,240 votes have already been counted, or about 35% of the expected votes. Right now as I'm typing this, the spokesman from the Electoral Tribunal is calling live from the Atlapa Convention Center to Ricardo Martinelli - and he told him "this is Mag. Pinilla, the President of the Electoral Tribunal - according to the data that we have at this point, with 43% of the results counted, it is clear that you are the winner of this election." He also said "This is a clear result, and there is no doubt that Sr. Martinelli is the winner of this election."

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The polls closed here in the Republic of Panama at 4:00 pm local time, and now election workers are counting every vote and posting them one polling place at a time. Right now, as of 5:42 local, Ricardo Martinelli is leading with 60% of votes counted, compared to Balbina Herrera with 37% and Guillermo Endara with 2%. The first returns are from the smaller areas with sometimes only 50 voters, so they were able to count the votes quickly and transmit their results. At this point a total of only 51,299 votes have been counted, of a total of more than 1.7 million expected. So far there has been a participation of about 80% - that is to say more than 80% of eligible voters turned out to participate.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

Panama America - While the government, the Electoral Tribunal, and the presidential candidates are calling for peace and sanity, gang members faced off with exchanges of gunfire in Colón and Calidonia. The Electoral Prosecutor, Boris Barrios, said members from his office met with gangs in Panama, San Miguelito, and Colon and reached an agreement for them to not cause problems today. “It's worrisome because we had an agreement with the gangs for there to be peace and order today, but they did not comply with their word," he said. He said the Electoral Tribunal decided to move the voting center in Calidonia to another "calmer" place. He said there were some isolated shots fired in Calidonia, but he did not specify the location. He said there are several gang members who are members of the different political campaigns and for that reason he asked them to maintain their composure. With regards to the shooting in Colon, he said it still has not been decided if the voting center will be moved to a different location. These acts of violence coincide with a call made just moments before by the opposition candidate Guillermo Endara, for his followers to remain calm and he said that once the elections were over he would give a hug to his political adversaries in the PRD. Earlier in the morning both Ricardo Martinelli and Balbina Herrera also made a call for peace and sanity. President Martin Torrijos said while he cast his vote that this is an electoral celebration that should take place in an atmosphere of tranquillity and confidence.

La Critica - There are exactly 2,211,261 people in Panama who are eligible to vote in the elections today. They will choose the next President of the Republic between Guillermo Endara, Ricardo Martinelli, and Balbina Herrera who will begin to govern the country as the new Chief Executive starting on 1 July 2009. In the entire election there are a total of 1,594 positions that will be filled; among then 71 Deputies to the National Assembly, 75 Mayors of Cities and Towns, 623 representatives to local governments, 7 councilmen, and 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen.) A total of 2,382 voting locations have been established with a total of 5,613 tables. Ricardo Martinelli, a businessman who studied marketing and former president and lawyer Guillermo Endara were candidates in past elections. Engineer, former minister, and former lawmaker Balbina Herrera is the second woman aspiring to the Presidency of Panama.

By Rafael Quezada for La Prensa - PENONOMÉ, Coclé. - Damaris Pinzón, a voter who went to the polls to vote at 7:00 a.m. this morning in Penonomé was surprised to find that her ballot to vote for the Deputy to the National Assembly was already marked. The news filtered outside of the perimeter separating the cubicles from the public. Among the ballot papers received by Pinzón, given to her by a member of the primary table, the ballot for Deputy already had a check-mark in the box for the Partido Revolucionario Democrático. This happened at approximately 7:30 am at table number 476 located in the Ángel María Herrera school in the city of Penonomé. Pinzón said she immediately announced the anomaly in a loud voice and displayed the marked ballot before the table and the other representatives (observers) of the various political parties that were inside of the polling place. “It already had a check mark," she said and added that the paper was nullified and that she was given a new one. Agustín Alzamora, a representative from another political party, said this is a serious problem that should be investigated because it could be an electoral crime. He said the details surrounding the event should be annotated, he emphasized. Alfonso Alonso, the inspector from the Electoral Tribunal overseeing the four voting tables in the Ángel María Herrera school, said he could not add anything on the matter because it is incumbent on the members of the primary table to address any anomaly. “The table is independent and makes its own decisions”, he said. He added that the main table did confirm that the incident did happen, but that they should write up a report on what happened in the space allocated for "incidents" for it to be investigated later. About 2,015 voters will cast their votes at the Ángel María Herrera school.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Today more than 1.5 million Panamanians will go to the polls to cast their votes to elect the new President of the Republic, as well as the Mayor of Panama City, National Assembly Deputies (lawmakers), as well as local mayors and representatives for every city and town in the country. There have been some reports of minor technical or procedural problems - for example in two locations reportedly the person charged by the Electoral Tribunal to manage the voting location kept the observers from the various political parties out of the area until after the tables were set up (while in fact they should have been admitted to observe the process.) In one case a woman who was going to cast her vote she noticed that one of the two required signatures was missing. Another reported she was given a ballot that already had a check-mark in Box #1 (the PRD spot for Balbina Herrera.) Right now, there's a controversy over the use of face masks to protect from possible Swine Flu transmission in the voting locations. Health officials are saying it's not necessary because there are no confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Panama, but observers are concerned that someone wearing a mask might try to vote for someone else. Anyway, in spite of these minor hiccups, for the most part Panama's voting system is relatively well designed to prevent flat-out fraud. The voting will continue until the polls close at 4:00 pm, and the initial results are expected starting by about 7:30 pm or so.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

Central News Agency - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed confidence yesterday that bilateral ties with Panama would not be affected regardless of the result of the Central American ally's presidential poll today. "The Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring Panama's presidential election. We believe that whichever candidate wins the election, bilateral relations between Taiwan and Panama will remain unchanged," MOFA spokesman Henry Chen said. The ministry maintains good relations and close contacts with all presidential candidates, he added. Bilateral relations between Taiwan and Panama were thought to be wavering during the final years of former President Chen Shui-bian's administration, as Chen pursued a diplomatic approach that China saw as confrontational, while Panama tried to develop economic and trade relations with Beijing. The Panamanian government rejected Chen's request for a stopover in October 2007, and its withholding of support for Taiwan's bids to participate in the World Health Organization and the United Nations in recent years were interpreted by many analysts as indications of unstable diplomatic ties. Diplomatic relations between the two countries seemed to improve after President Ma Ying-jeou took office last May and pursued a "diplomatic truce" with China, ending for at least the time being efforts by both countries to steal each other's allies through financial enticements. Ma met with Panamanian President Martin Torrijos last August during a refueling stop in the Central American country en route to South American and the Caribbean, the first head of state from Taiwan to visit Panama since Sept. 1 2004. Panama has been an ally of the Republic of China/Taiwan since 1909 and remains one of the country's 23 allies. According to the Washington Post, latest polls showed that Ricardo Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon and the candidate of the Democratic Change Party (PCD), is enjoying a clear lead over Balbina Herrera of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

By Sean Mattson PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - A supermarket tycoon with a multimillion-dollar fortune is the favorite to win Panama's presidential election on Sunday as voters look for assurances their economy can weather the global economic crisis. Pro-business conservative Ricardo Martinelli, 57, has a double-digit lead in opinion polls over ruling party leftist Balbina Herrera, who has an anti-U.S. past and old ties to a former military strongman that rankles with some voters. President Martin Torrijos' Revolutionary Democratic Party, or PRD, has strong support among lower-income voters but its popularity has sagged as prices of staples like milk and bread have soared in recent months and crime has spiked. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The "big day" is coming this Sunday in Panama - the national elections will be held on 3 May 2009. This event happens in Panama only once every five years, and for this one I don't recommend sitting at home in front of a television screen - it's much more fun to get out there and grab a big old taste of Panamanian style democracy. The voting his held in public schools all over the country. People basically vote in their own neighborhoods, and many people are close enough to the polling places to just walk there. You can expect to see a robust police and security presence, as well as observers from the Panamanian Electoral Tribunal, international observers, representatives from non-governmental organizations like the Red Cross, as well as observers from all of the various political parties. Basically, everyone is looking over everyone else's shoulder to make sure there's no funny business going on. All of the candidates will have their "headquarters" established - for example Bobby Velasquez will be in the Granada Hotel in El Cangrejo, and Ricardo Martinelli will be in the Marriott. The voting will run all day, and you can expect to see some preliminary results coming in by about 8:00 pm or so. Generally there will be enough of the vote counted by midnight for the main races to have been decided. Feel free to get out, walk around, visit a polling place, and ask questions. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you learn.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Now that the general national election in Panama is only two days away, the only really interesting race remains that for the Mayor of Panama City. Scandals affecting all three mayoral candidates leading up to the election marred all of them. Bobby Velasquez was faced with allegations of having received $3 million dollars from Colombian money launderer David Murcia. Bosco Vallarino was "charged" with having dual US-Panamanian citizenship, but was eventually cleared to run as a candidate. And the Electoral Tribunal reviewed the legitimacy of the candidacy of Miguel Antonio Bernal early on in the process and allowed him to run as a kind of quasi-independent. Just a couple of weeks ago the primary "dinosaurs" of the PRD, including former Panamanian president Ernesto Perez Balladares, met with Miguel Antonio Bernal over lunch right as the David Murcia scandal was breaking over the head of Bobby Velasquez. Those veteran PRD politicians foresaw exactly what was going to happen - the polling numbers were going to tighten up dramatically and Bobby Velasquez would drop in the polls, losing a good portion of the popular support gained as an "untainted" candidate. Without a doubt, the PRD dinosaurs wanted to make sure of one thing - Miguel Antonio Bernal had to stay in the race no matter what. In a three-way battle Velasquez still stands a chance against Bosco Vallarino - but only as long as Bernal stays in the race as a spolier. And although no legitimate political analyst in Panama thinks Bernal has a snowball's chance in hell of actually winning this election, he will probably succeed in drawing somewhere between 10% to 15% of the vote (and no more.) In addition, there are no (as in zero) PRD voters who will cast their vote for Bernal, so therefore 100% of the votes going to Bernal are coming from opposition (non-PRD) voters. Since the fall of Manuel Antonio Noriega the only way the PRD can win any election is if the opposition is fragmented. Martinelli is going to win the Presidency precisely because the opposition united behind his candidacy. Therefore, in effect, the role of Bernal has been reduced to serving as a "spoiler" for the PRD and Bobby Velasquez, and to ruin the chances of opposition candidate Bosco Vallarino. While it's still possible Bosco might win the election anyway - in spite of having Bernal in the race as a spoiler - his work is made much harder. So, if Velasquez wins, blame Bernal. With all of that having been said, this race is still completely up in the air - no one knows for sure who is going to win or by how much. It's going to be very tight.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Last night the ruling Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) held their last rally for presidential candidate Balbina Herrera. They had a good turnout - one thing the PRD has always been able to do is mobilize the troops. The opposition folks are much more likely to never attend a single rally or political event, but just quietly vote for their candidate on 3 May 2009. All of the PRD heavy hitters were there and made speeches - Martin Torrijos was the best speaker, Juan Carlos Navarro is losing his voice, etc. Unfortunately for the PRD, I watched the entire speech given by Balbina Herrera, and several times during the speech the only thing I could think of was "...and that's why the PRD is going to lose..." She simply is not a winning candidate for a national level election, and she "blew it" several times during the speech. Whatever, at this point practically everyone has their minds made up already, and now all of the propaganda and campaigning will wind down to a full halt and we can finally get around to conducting the only poll that really matters.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

La Critica - The Panamanian National Police warned of a supposed plot by Colombian commandos to kill opposition presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli at the ceremony to celebrate the closure of the "Alliance for Change" political campaign last Sunday. Electoral Tribunal magistrate Gerardo Solís said the Panamanian National Police received this information on Sunday and that he personally informed Martinelli, a few hours before the event at Amador was scheduled to begin. "There were indications, nothing concrete, but the prudent thing to do was to reactivate security as a preventative measure," he said. The Police reinforced security and even deployed snipers. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I spotted it on Sunday, as the "Alliance for Change" opposition presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli was giving the closing speech of this "campaign closure" ceremony on the Amador Causeway. At the very end of the speech, actually the last words Martinelli was saying as the speech concluded, he finished talking, raised his hands, and "BANG" (the fireworks went off behind him). Martinelli flinched like he thought he had been shot - but then practically instantly he realized that the loud sound behind him was the stage fireworks - he recovered quickly and turned back into the confident politician. Now, today, I received an email from Ricardo Martinelli's campaign managers confirming that indeed there was a credible threat of a possible assassination attempt against Martinelli planned for Sunday's event. And, obviously, that's why he was jumpy. (more)

By José Edwin Sánchez M. for La Critica - Operational command and control over the more than 15,000 uniformed members of the Panamanian National Police, the National Sea and Air Service, the Direction of Judicial Investigation, the Institutional Protection Service (SPI), the National Border Service, and the rest of the public forces will pass today to the hands of the Electoral Tribunal, as a means of maintaining public order in the election centers and voting locations throughout the country on Sunday, 3 May 2009. This ceremony today presided over by the President of the Republic, Martin Torrijos Espino, marks the end of the long political campaign process leading that will culminate with the national elections. The Panamanian Electoral Code establishes that the transfer of command takes place exclusively to guarantee the freedom, honesty and effectiveness of the elections. (See Comments)

Panama America - A few days before the upcoming national elections in Panama, Giselle Calcagno says she has received threats from the campaigns of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD). "These threats are directed by a band that is none other than the campaigns of the PRD," said Calcagno. She added that the PRD's methodology is to make threats using the telephone. She said she is scared by these threats, as anyone would be. In as much, the candidate to the presidency for the PRD, Balbina Herrera, said the declarations are baseless. (See Comment)

By Inti Landauro BOGOTA (Dow Jones)--Panamanian businessman and free-marketeer Ricardo Martinelli, the leading presidential candidate, proposes to impose a flat tax system in the country if elected, his top economic adviser said in an interview. "We want to simplify the tax code because it will reduce the informal sector and tax evasion," Frank De Lima, Martinelli's top economic adviser, told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview. The flat tax rate, probably at between 12% and 17% for persons, with a full exemption for revenues below a certain level, and between 18% and 22% for companies, would have a neutral level on tax collection, he said. Currently corporate tax stands at 30% of profits in Panama. The Central American nation would be the first country imposing a flat tax system in Latin America. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Golly, do you think Ricardo Martinelli is going to get something like 51% (+) of the vote next weekend? Take a look at the final polling results produced yesterday by TVN Channel 2 and Ditcher & Neira, and you can see the opposition candidate from the "Alliance for Change" movement, Ricardo Martinelli, is still pulling 51% support and leading the PRD candidate Balbina Herrera by 13%. These polling results and indications really have not varied all that much since January when the four major opposition parties merged into a grand opposition alliance. Balbina Herrera's fate was basically sealed at that point. I fully expect Ricardo Martinelli to win this election handily, and to receive about 55% to 60% of the votes cast in the actual election. If he does that, it will be the first time since in the post-dictatorship era that any democratically elected Panamanian president has won with more than 50% of the vote. The last to do it was Guillermo Endara in 1989 - and that election was more about voting to get rid of Manuel Noriega than it was about popular support for Endara.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Yesterday TVN Channel 2 together with the polling company Dichter & Neira released what appears to be their last official polling results, now just nine days before the actual elections on 3 May 2009. The most interesting race has been that for the position of Mayor of Panama City, primarily between the PRD candidate Roberto "Bobby" Velásquez and the "Alliance for Change" candidate Bosco Vallarino. Both have have been dealing with their respective scandals - Bosco over his dual US-Panamanian citizenship and Bobby over an alleged $6 million dollar campaign donation called an "investment" supposedly made by jailed and accused money launderer Colombian David Murcia. The polling results released yesterday indicates opposition candidate Bosco Vallarino is now pulling 41% and is leading Bobby Velásquez in the polls for the first time. Velásquez is now pulling just 37% support, down from more than 50% a few months ago, thanks in no small part to the Murcia scandal. Velásquez is now in "Balbina territory" meaning he will apparently receive support at the polls only from those hard-core, fanatical, dyed-in-the-wool PRD supporters who will vote for the party's candidate, no matter what he or she might have done to deserve otherwise. Oh yeah, and as a side note Miguel Antonio Bernal, the "also ran" candidate, dropped from 17% to 14%, and he still has his standard "snowballs chance in hell" of winning this race.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

TVN Noticias - Just days before the national general elections in Panama on 3 May 2009, there are movements starting to arise within the political parties. On this occasion members of the ruling Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) announced their support for opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli. Giselle de Calcagno, the Director of the Micro, Small, and Medium Business Authority (AMPYME) announced her support for Martinelli. According to Calcagno the PRD campaign has closed their doors and they have been wrapped in scandals, and in addition she said "it seems like we have returned to the times of Noriega." After the announcement, a group of PRD dissidents led by Calcagno went out to the streets, where they carried PRD flags and wearing campaign t-shirts from Martinelli's campaign, give clear voice to their support for the presidential candidate from the "Alliance for Change." (more) (See Comments)

By ROLANDO RODRÍGUEZ B. for La Prensa - Opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli is maintaining his advantage over this PRD rival Balbina Herrera who, however, is consistently continuing to attract more support. In this poll was conducted by the company Unimer, in which 1,600 people were a polled and which has a 2.5% margin of error, Martinelli is ahead of Herrera by 11.6%. Support for Martinelli has remained constant over the past few months, whereas Herrera has been slowly closing the gap in each successive poll. This poll was taken by means of a simulated vote using a ballot box, in which Guillermo Endara only received 3.8% of the votes cast. Another 2.1% of the votes cast were either blank votes or nullified. In another scenario, in which only those people who are totally decided were allowed to participate (1,204 participants with a margin of error of 2.8%) the results were similar: Martinelli received 50.2% and Herrera 38.3%, with a difference of 11.9% in favor of Martinelli. (There's one more paragraph here that's practically impossible to translate because it doesn't make any sense in either language. If anyone wants to take a shot at it be my guest.) This poll also included a sample to measure the vote among the candidates running for Mayor of Panama City. (See Comments)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Suffice it to say that practically everyone has had "enough" of the politics, already. The election is now less than two weeks away. Most people have already made up their minds and know who they are going to be voting for, so now it's just a matter of waiting until the actual day of the election to go and cast your vote. Of course, as "gringos" the great majority of English speaking expatriates living in Panama don't get a vote, but many people enjoy being able to follow the local political news and to have at least a partial clue as to what's going on. Now, the different news sources are talking about things such as "how to vote" with regards to actually marking the ballot, restrictions placed by the Electoral Tribunal and the Electoral Code on political advertisements once we get closer to the actual date of voting, and logistical things such as who is responsible for taking down all of the thousands of signs plastered all over the place. Finally, I'm sure there will be some more news between now and the election on the Murcia campaign donations to the PRD candidates, so just wait for that. And besides politics, all of the news is nothing but car wreck, some dude got shot, another car wreck, etc. Routine stuff...

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By Grisel Bethancourt for La Critica - Panama's Criminal Prosecutor José Ayú Prado will be assigned to investigate the supposed donations made by Colombian David Murcia Guzmán to Panamanian politicians. Panama's Solicitor General Ana Matilde Gómez met with her general staff and everything indicates she will decide on Monday to assign Ayú Prado as the primary investigator in the case. During the meeting the complexity of this kind of investigation was analyzed, which is why the primary option is for Ayú Prado, who is a former Chief of the PTJ, a former Anti-Drug Prosecutor, and a former prosecutor specialized in Intellectual Property should take charge of the case. The central point of the investigation will be to determine if Murcia did or did not give a suitcase filled with money to support the campaign of the PRD mayoral candidate. So far there has been a "tie" in the allegations. The former SPI agenst and Brazilian businessman Alexander Ventura Nogueira allege the suitcase was handed over; Ernesto Chong Coronado and mayoral candidate Roberto Velásquez deny that it happened. To make matters worse, the Chief of security for the Hotel Sheraton allege they do not have the videos from the day of the in which the meeting presumably took place.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Man, I love politics. Thank God for politicians. And I don't know what's more entertaining - watching them do all of the silly crap they have to do in order to get elected, or watching them pull even more silly crap once they are in office. We are now less than three weeks away from the upcoming national elections in Panama, and by far the most interesting race is for the Mayorship of Panama City. There are three contenders in this race - Roberto "Bobby" Velásquez Abood, Bosco Vallarino, and Miguel Antonio Bernal. While none of the three are as clean as the driven snow, it now appears clear that going into the final days of campaigning there will actually be three solid candidates on the ballot, creating a scenario in which the eventually winner might be the guy who gets just 33% +1 of the votes cast. (more)

By Leonardo Flore for La Prensa - The magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal decided in favor of opposition mayoral candidate Bosco Vallarino, in the controversy surrounding his dual nationality. In their decision the magistrates argue the Electoral Tribunal is not the competent authority to determine the nationality and citizen's rights of Vallarino. The magistrates ordered the Civil Registry to review Vallarino's file. This decision is also valid for the cases of Norberto Testa, a candidate for councilman of Ancón for the Vanguardia Moral de la Patria political party, and Charles Garavitt, candidate for deputy of circuit 8-7 from the Unión Patriótica.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Early this morning Panama's Civil Registry issued a document saying that the "Alliance for Change" Mayoral candidate Bosco Vallarino is a full-fledged Panamanian and that he can run as a valid candidate for the position of Mayor of Panama City. Yesterday afternoon the Electoral Tribunal basically punted responsibility, saying that the Civil Registry was the "competent authority" to determine such issues, and that their decision would be based on the findings of the Director of the Civil Registry. Back channel conversations tell me the PRD basically overplayed their hand on this issue and they were looking for a way to gracefully back away without having to remove Bosco as a candidate. Anyway, now it looks like sometime today the Electoral Tribunal will decide the issue, and off we go to the elections. It's always interesting around here during an election cycle.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By Denise Lara for Telemetro Noticias - The magistrates of Panama's Electoral Tribunal are said to be waiting for a report from the Director of the Civil Registry, Shannon Sinclair Dumanoir, where today they should confirm if Bosco Vallarino renewed or not his rights as a Panamanian citizen after having lived in Panama continuously for more than two years. Once this report is provided to the magistrates they will meet and decide the issue on the basis of the document presented by Dumanoir whether or not Vallarino can continue as a candidate for the position of Mayor of Panama City.