Panama: Conservative José Raúl Mulino comfortably wins the elections and becomes the new president

As the polls indicated, José Raúl Mulino, a trusted man of the popular former president Ricardo Martinelli, comfortably won the general elections on May 5 and became the new president of Panama for the period 2024-2029.

Mulino, who replaced the candidacy of the disqualified Martinelli in extremis, clearly won, reaching 34.47% of the votes, taking advantage of the great popularity that still surrounds the former president.

Although the polls put Mulino as the favorite, the result is surprising due to the distance from the rest of the opponents (he took nine points off the second), especially because electoral participation was close to 80% on one of the electoral days with the greatest mobilization in the history of the country.

Before Mulino's victory was made official, the electoral authorities quickly extended congratulations to the new president.

"I am pleased on behalf of the Electoral Court to inform you that (...) you are at this moment unofficially the winner of the presidency of the Republic of Panama," said Judge Alfredo Juncá.

"I assume the position with great responsibility and humility... It is an honor for me, for my family, to receive this call," Mulino responded. He later gave a combative victory speech.

"Here we have arrived with the majority vote of the Panamanian people, it hurts whoever hurts," said the new Panamanian president, who later pointed out that, despite the "political persecution" he suffered in recent months, "it does not encourage me, despite everything they did to me in this campaign, a drop of revenge, against no one."

Martinelli, politically disqualified after being sentenced to almost 11 years in prison for money laundering in the case known as New Business, had expressed his intentions to run for the presidency. However, after being found guilty by the Panamanian justice system and deprived of holding public office, he took refuge in the Nicaraguan Embassy and decided to promote the candidacy of Mulino, who was his Minister of Public Security and Justice.

However, beyond the corruption cases surrounding him, Martinelli remains tremendously popular in Panama because he presided over the country between 2009 and 2014 during a cycle of great economic prosperity for the Panamanian nation. Many citizens still fondly remember the former president's management, especially after the last few years of inflation and financial instability caused partly by the COVID-19 crisis and the drought that hit the Panama Canal, on which about 10% of the country's economy depends.

Martinelli, despite being sentenced and taking refuge in the diplomatic headquarters of Nicaragua, remained very active in the electoral campaign and put all his efforts into supporting his right-hand man Mulino, who took advantage of the great division that existed in the electoral roll and also addressed a vital issue during his campaign to capture the attention of Panamanians: illegal immigration.

One of Mulino's most challenging and complex proposals, clearly aimed at Panamanians living in the country's southern border area, was to close the Darién Gap to control the massive irregular migratory flows that occur in that inhospitable jungle.

In April, Mulino assured that he would restrict the passage of illegal migrants whose final destination is the United States.

"Panama is not a transit country," said the then-candidate in statements reported by EFE. "We are going to close Darién and we are going to repatriate all these people accordingly (…) The United States border, instead of being in Texas, was moved to Panama."

In the end, Mulino's campaign, although questioned, worked.

Mulino's closest pursuer was the independent lawyer Ricardo Lombana, who in recent months rebounded in the polls and finished nine points behind Mulino, with 25% of the votes.

In third place came former President Martín Torrijos, Martinelli's predecessor, and son of Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos. Torrijos persuaded Washington to relinquish control of the Panama Canal in the 1970s. Torrijos reached 16% of the votes.

Further back, another lawyer, Romulo Roux, who at one point came second in the polls and sounded like a serious candidate to fight for the presidency thanks to a platform focused on tourism and logistics, had to settle for fourth place, reaching 11.21% of the votes.

One of the news of the day, although it was not exactly surprising, was the weak performance of the current vice president of Panama, José Gabriel Carrizo, who, despite promising demagogue measures such as increasing the minimum wage, could barely harvest 5.76% of the votes being surpassed, even, by the representative Zulay Lytset, who came fifth with 6.23%.

The result of the official candidate was logical, considering that the current Panamanian government has very low popularity ratings even though the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) is one of the most traditional parties in the country, being the iconic political group of General Omar Torrijos.

Carrizo, who at the time became the youngest vice president of Panama, was ultimately one of the visible faces of the multiple corruption scandals that surrounded the current president's administration. Panamanians consider Laurentino Cortizo one of the worst leaders in the country's history and, according to favorability indices, the most unpopular in recent decades.

After Cortizo's failure, Panamanians decided to take two steps back and return to an old familiar face: Ricardo Martinelli, the great winner behind the victory of the new president José Raúl Mulino.