By KEMY LOO PINZÓN for La Prensa - Yesterday afternoon the district (election) board of Panama officially proclaimed Panameñista Bosco Vallarino the new Mayor-elect of Panama City. Vallarino thanked God for the victory and responded to the statements made by his former political adversary Roberto Velasquez, who said the Mayor-elect still faces a process before the Electoral Tribunal. Vallarino responded to Velasquez with the expression “don't cry like a woman, he who could not defend himself like a man." During a press conference yesterday morning - in which Velasquez recognized the triumph of Vallarino - he asked the magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal to continue to address the issue of Vallarino's dual nationality (Panama/US). (more) (See Comments)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I just checked the website of the Electoral Tribunal in Panama, and the race for the Mayor in Bocas del Toro is neck-and-neck. Dr. Jose Anderson has 1,736 votes against Dario Vanhorne who has 1,686 or just 50 votes less. You might remember Dario, he was the guy who was trying to defend his rights to own Wild Cane Key against an attempt by Six Diamonds to take it over (Six Diamonds thought they had bought it legally.) At the time when I was investigating those articles, I spent a lot of time in Dario's boat, going out to take photos of the island to see what was going on. There are still four more tables or 15.38% of the vote remaining to be counted, as well as 208 votes that were counted as blank and another 113 that were counted as null. Since this one is so close, you can expect whoever ends up losing to call for a recount.

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 Carlos Estrada Aguilar for La Critica - Just hours after being proclaimed the President Elect of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli presented some possible members of his new cabinet. Yesterday he revealed some of the names of people who would be working for his administration. He confirmed that lawyer Jaime Alemán, the brother of Panameñista José Miguel Alemán, business partner of Aníbal Galindo, and graduate of Duke University in North Carolina, will occupy the position of Panama's Ambassador in Washington DC. In addition, he said the former lieutenant and former regional manager of Security and Protection for the Panama Ports comany, Gustavo Perez De La Ossa, will be the head of the Panamanian National Police. Perez is a graduate of the Citadel Military College in South Carolina and also has taken anti-terrorism courses from the Defense Forces. After Operation Just Cause he was separated from the public forces. (more)

By LEONARDO FLORES for La Prensa - Juan Carlos Navarro, Balbina Herrera's running mate, held responsible the candidate and other high ranking members of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD), for having taken the organization through its worst electoral debacle in the party's history. “I understand that after what has happened, and that since the candidate has taken the party to this electoral disaster, she still feels somewhat resentful and beat up. However, it is not right for her to put her personal aspirations or ambitions above the interests of the country and the party," he said. For this reason, Navarro called upon the party's National Executive Committee, of which he is a member, to call a National Convention in order to call into account and take the necessary actions against the members of the PRD leadership responsible for the broken alliance between him (Navarro) and Balbina Herrera, in which Herrera was to support his run for the Presidency and Herrera was to run for the position of Mayor of Panama City. (more) (See Comments)

By Chris Kraul May 4, 2009 Reporting from Bogota, Colombia for the Los Angeles Times -- Conservative supermarket magnate Ricardo Martinelli coasted to victory in Panama's presidential election Sunday, bucking the Latin American trend of recent years that has seen leftists take power. Panama's electoral tribunal declared Martinelli the victor after counting 43% of the vote Sunday evening, saying he had an insurmountable lead: 61% to 36% over Balbina Herrera, a former housing minister and ruling party candidate. Herrera's campaign suffered from a worsening economy, rising crime and disenchantment with President Martin Torrijos. "Starting on July 1, a change is coming to Panama," Martinelli told supporters at his campaign headquarters in Panama City. (more)

By Mica Rosenberg PANAMA CITY, May 4 (Reuters) - Finalizing a free-trade deal with the United States is a major goal for Panamanian President-elect Ricardo Martinelli, but the supermarket tycoon rejects U.S. accusations that the country is a tax haven. "It will be our number one priority," Martinelli said of the accord on Monday in front of his house after sweeping Sunday's election with over 60 percent of votes. The U.S.-Panama trade pact was signed in June 2007 by Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, but the agreement has been stalled in the U.S. Congress over criticisms that Panama is an offshore tax haven for wealthy foreigners. Panama only collects income tax on money judged to have been earned in the tiny Central American nation. Martinelli's economic team disagrees with U.S. lawmakers who say Panama has failed to deal with tax evasion and needs tougher labor rights standards. (more)

By Kevin Casas-Zamora, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Latin America Initiative, The Brookings Institution - On May the 3rd, 2009, Panama will elect a new President. With less than a week to go, opinion polls show Ricardo Martinelli, the candidate of the Democratic Change Party (PCD), with a comfortable lead over Balbina Herrera of the incumbent Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). If polls prove accurate, the result would come as a rather surprising turnaround. Since 2004, the current PRD administration, of President Martín Torrijos, has scored a series of successes that at some point made its continuity look like a formality (although the President is barred from running for immediate reelection). Economic growth averaged 8.6% in 2004-2008, reaching nearly 12% in 2007. In October 2006, Torrijos achieved a major political victory when Panamanian voters overwhelmingly supported in a national referendum his plan to expand the Panama Canal, one of the largest investment projects in Latin America, to the tune of $5.2 billion. In the past 5 years, poverty rates have gone down by about 5% to about 28% of the population, and even income distribution seems to have improved marginally, while remaining very inequitable. All things considered, there was, until recently, the perception, both in the country and abroad, that the PRD had done a very good job of unleashing Panama’s potential as a regional commercial and financial hub, a kind of Latin American Singapore. (more)

By Eyra Rodríguez for El Siglo - The goal in the 9-3 Electoral Circuit corresponding to the districts of Santa Fe, Cañazas, and San Francisco was to defeat Pedro Miguel González who has been in the National Assembly for the past ten years. For this situation the opposition decided to put forward one single candidate, Francisco “Pancho” Brea, a key man of the Panameñista political party. Late last night, Pedro Miguel Gonzalez was against the ropes. Unofficially, Brea was winning with 10,387 votes or 55.58% of the vote, compared to 8,387 for Gonzalez, or 44.42% of the vote. A coalition formed to achieve the objective. The Molirena, Cambio Democrático, Unión Patriótica and Panameñista political parties all united with the single purpose of defeating Pedro Miguel Gonzalez. The voting in the 9-3 district occurred completely normally, and there were no incidents to report. Pedro Miguel Gonzalez voted in the school at Santa Fe, and Brea voted in the school at Cañazas. (more, don't miss...)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Panama's El Siglo newspaper did a good job of capturing the most important headlines from this morning; Ricardo Martinelli is still the king in Panama. According to the unofficial election results being published by the Electoral Tribunal through their website, the political parties representing the "Alliance for Change" have already won 33 seats in the National Assembly (Cambio Democrático, Panameñista, Molirena and Unión Patriótica) while the PRD has won just 23 seats. There are still an additional 15 seats that have to be decided and all results have to become official. Bosco Vallarino will be the next Mayor of Panama City. And, Balbina Herrera is already trying to position herself as the "leader of the opposition." There's another way to put that - "unemployed."

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 Getzalette Reyes for La Prensa - Panama's President Elect Ricardo Martinelli left his residence at 9:50 this morning and spoke to the media. He mentioned a few names of people who he might select to serve on his cabinet. Martinelli reiterated he will work with the best people, even if they are independents or members of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico. He said TVN television personality Lucy Molinar might be a minister in his new government, but added "I haven't been able to talk to her about it yet." Panamanian President Martin Torrijos and the president elect Ricardo Martinelli agreed to meet tomorrow to talk about the transition. (Photo Credit: Reuters)

NEW YORK, May 04, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fitch Ratings says Panama's recent Presidential election result will not immediately affect ratings for the country. According to Panama's Electoral Tribunal, conservative candidate Ricardo Martinelli of the opposition Alliance for Change has won the presidential election. With 63% of the votes counted, Marinelli had 61% of the votes against 37% for the ruling party candidate Balbina Herrera. 'Although Panama's key credit metrics have strengthened in recent years, Martinelli will enter office during a challenging period for Panama,' said Theresa Paiz Fredel, Senior Director in Fitch's Sovereign Ratings group. According to Fitch, the new president will have to guide Panama through the international financial crisis, which Fitch expects to result in the country's worst cyclical downturn since 2001/2002. Additionally, the US$5.3 billion expansion of the Canal to increase its capacity and accommodate larger ships will also be a key priority. Continued growth momentum and resilience of Panama's macroeconomic policy framework in the context of the current global economic and financial crisis could be positive for creditworthiness. Given the small size of Panama's economy, its vulnerability to external shocks and rigidity in public finances, a sustained reduction in the government's debt burden could also benefit creditworthiness. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. SOURCE: Fitch Ratings

PANAMA CITY (AP) — A conservative supermarket magnate was favored to win presidential elections Sunday that will determine who oversees expansion of the Panama Canal, the nation's economic engine. Ricardo Martinelli, of the opposition Alliance for Change, had a double-digit lead in the polls over former Housing Minister Balbina Herrera of Panama's governing coalition, which is led by the Democratic Revolutionary Party. The winner, whose term ends in 2014, will have to guide Panama through the world economic crisis and the $5.25 billion expansion of the canal to increase its capacity and accommodate larger ships. (more)

By KATHIA MARTINEZ – PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama's Electoral Tribunal says conservative supermarket magnate Ricardo Martinelli has won the Central American nation's presidential elections. Tribunal President Erasmo Pinilla says that with 44 percent of the votes counted Martinelli is the "indisputable winner" of Sunday's voting. Martinelli, of the opposition Alliance for Change, topped former Housing Minister Balbina Herrera of Panama's governing coalition, which is led by the Democratic Revolutionary Party. Pinilla said he telephoned Martinelli to inform him of his victory. The winner, whose term ends in 2014, will have to guide Panama through the world economic crisis and the $5.25 billion expansion of the canal to increase its capacity and accommodate larger ships.

PANAMA (Reuters) — Ricardo Martinelli, a multimillionaire supermarket chain owner, won Panama’s presidential election on Sunday, defying a trend of left-wing political victories in Latin America. Panama’s electoral authority said Mr. Martinelli, a pro-business conservative, was the clear victor over his rival, Balbina Herrera of the governing center-left Revolutionary Democratic Party, whose government has struggled with crime and high prices. Mr. Martinelli’s business experience appeared to have swayed voters worried about their livelihoods in a global recession. A self-made businessman who owns the dominant Super 99 supermarket chain, Mr. Martinelli, 57, wants to build ports, highways and a Panama City subway.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I'm about to start running through the local and international news reporting on the Panamanian elections yesterday, and at this point it looks like 100% of what I reported last night was right on the money. Bosco Vallarino will be the next Mayor of Panama City (so, who's going to pay me my $500 bucks?) Ricardo Martinelli's "Alliance for Change" will end up with about 37 seats in the National Assembly, or two seats more than half of the 71 Deputies, meaning they have political control over the lawmaking body. Pedro Miguel Gonzalez did lose his seat, and he turn back into just another random dirtbag walking the streets on 1 July 2009 (I can almost hear the sounds of the rotor blades right now). And already this morning the people who were the closest to Martin Torrijos, and who enjoyed incredible levels of political protection, are starting to get very, very nervous. In the post-dictatorship era Panamanian voters have never re-elected either the PRD or the opposition - they get their chance, screw it up, and then get thrown out on their ass in the next election. The greatest challenge for Ricardo Martinelli and his coalition will be to actually follow through on all of their campaign promises, so that when voters return to the polls on Sunday, 4 May 2014, they might have a chance of pulling another first - actually staying in power for more than one term, a feat no other group of Panamanian politicians have been able to pull off since democracy was returned to the country in 1989. Now, let's see what the world has to say about the elections.

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 - According to Frank De Lima, one of Ricardo Martinelli's top economic advisors, the "Alliance for Change" has gained a controlling majority in Panama's National Assembly lawmaking body in today's elections. "We don't have all of the details yet, but we understand we've won a majority in the Assembly," de Lima said this evening at the Marriott hotel in Panama City, the headquarters of the Martinelli campaign. When I asked specifically about Pedro Miguel Gonzalez who has been indicted as a terrorist by the United States in the 1992 murder of US Army Sergeant Zak Hernandez, he said "he lost his seat." The really nice part about that is as of 1 July 2009 Pedro Miguel Gonzalez will lose all diplomatic immunity as a sitting Panamanian lawmaker and he will turn back into regular old "Mr. Gonzalez." Frank de Lima said, "that's right - he could be picked up anywhere. And, we would help..." I told him to be careful, because someone might just take him up on that offer in the not too distant future. Panama Guide's next prediction - Pedro Miguel Gonzalez flies to Cuba on 30 June 2009. De Lima also said Bosco Vallarino was "up by 10 points the last I heard."

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 8:26 pm, I just spoke via cell phone to the opposition candidate for the Mayorship of Panama City, Bosco Vallarino. He's in the Marriott hotel, basically trying to do the same thing I'm doing, to get some solid election results. He told me "so far we are ahead, but I don't have anything solid or official. Right now we're going to go out and go to some schools where the votes are still being counted and it's very close. Later we will probably return here to the Marriott or maybe we will go to the El Panama Hotel, I don't know yet. Call me in about an hour and a half and I'll know a lot more." OK, will do. He sounded very optimistic for an eventual win, but they are still very much in the fight.

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 - There are several undeniable trends that have developed in Panamanian politics. First of all, the PRD and the opposition take turns at the helm, and this has held true since the election of Guillermo Endara in 1989 (opposition.) He was followed in 1994 by Ernesto Perez Balladares (PRD), then the opposition returned in 1999 with Mireya Moscoso, followed by Martin Torrijos in 2004 (PRD). And now, as predicted by the trend, Ricardo Martinelli and the opposition in 2009. So, since 1989, it's gone opposition, PRD, opposition, PRD, opposition. Therefore, according to the trend, there is a very strong indication the PRD should return to power in 2014. Another strong trend is "run once and lose, run the second time and win." Ernesto Perez Balladares beat Moscoso in 1994, but she came back to win in 1999. Moscoso beat Martin Torrijos in 1999, who came back to win in 2004. Martin Torrijos beat Ricardo Martinelli in 2004, who came back to win in 2009. And Ricardo Martinelli beat Balbina Herrera in 2009, so she should (if the trend holds) return to win in 2014. The campaign for the next election already started, with Balbina Herrera's concession speech (here we go again...) I just wanted to be the very first to predict a Balbina Herrera and PRD win in 2014. Remember, you heard it here first.

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 - Balbina Herrera is currently making her concession speech after having lost the general national elections today in Panama. She said "my mother taught me that hard times make us stronger. My force comes from God and the Panamanian people. I am going to respect the decision of the Panamanian people." She thanked the members of the young PRD who went out and knocked on doors to get votes. She said "I understand the Panamanian people perfectly well - there's been tremendous economic growth in the country, but it's not reaching the poor." (Maybe she should blame Martin Torrijos for that?) She went on to say "It's my responsibility - I can't blame anyone else. I am a political leader and the President of my party, and I take full responsibility for this loss." She also thanked Juan Carlos Navarro, the thousands of volunteers who worked for her campaign, and then promised to lead the PRD as the opposition party for the next five years.

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 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).