A GUIDE TO
A Guide to 2019 Latin American Elections: Panama
Panama held general elections for 1,722 posts across the country on May 5. Approximately 73 percent of the 2.7 million eligible voters turned out to elect a new president and vice president, 71 deputies to the National Assembly, 81 mayors, and a host of other municipal representatives in the single-round vote.
In the closest election since the country’s return to democracy in 1989, Laurentino “Nito” Cortizo of the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party took 33 percent of the vote, beating out the Democratic Change party’s Rómulo Roux by 2 percent. Cortizo took office July 1 for a period of five years, and can only run for reelection after sitting out two terms.
>> Find out about other elections in our main 2019 Election Guide.
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The PRD’s Laurentino “Nito” Cortizo is proclaimed winner of closest presidential race of the last 30 years.
One candidate leads, but polls have been wrong before.
Corruption has taken center-stage in Panama’s first presidential election since the release of the Panama Papers.
Ending corruption is top on voters' minds in Panama, but they're split over who offers the most credible promise of change.
Learn about the candidates’ positions on everything from constitutional reform to social security to agricultural production.
The opposition PRD party leads the race in the seven-candidate field ahead of the May 5 vote.
AS/COA Online takes a look at upcoming presidential races in Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Uruguay.