Jose Raul Mulino wins Panama’s presidential election

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Panama’s electoral authority declared Jose Raul Mulino, a right-wing former public security minister, as the winner of the country’s presidential election on Sunday.

With more than 90% of the votes counted, the candidate of the opposition alliance comprised of the Realizing Goals party and the Alianza movement, who took 34% of the vote, claimed victory over the anti-system candidate Ricardo Lombana, who trailed behind with 25%.

Two days before the elections, the country's Supreme Court rejected a move to disqualify Mulino, who stepped in as a candidate in February by replacing former President Ricardo Martinelli. Mulino, 64, who had been Martinelli's vice-presidential candidate, took over the ticket for the former president's party, leading the voting intention over his two closest rivals, the lawyer Lombana and ex-president Martín Torrijos.

Martinelli, who was once the favorite to win this year’s presidential race, was disqualified from running by Panama’s electoral tribunal because he was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for money laundering.

The former president, who remains very popular in Panama, has been living in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City since seeking asylum there in February.

Mulino has dismissed the criminal case against Martinelli as politically motivated, but opponents have called Mulino a puppet of Martinelli and have suggested he could take advantage of his new position to pardon the former president

A short video released by Mulino’s campaign shows him visiting the former president at the Nicaraguan embassy after voting on Sunday. In the video, they are seen hugging at the diplomatic headquarters.

Eight candidates were competing to replace center-left President Laurentino Cortizo, who leaves behind a country that is facing a severe drought, massive protests and an economic slowdown.

Mulino will be faced with an economy whose growth is expected to fall from 7.3% in 2023 to 2.5% in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but he has pledged to stimulate it by creating jobs and boosting investments and infrastructure.

He will also have to deal with the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, which he has promised to shut down. The 575,000-hectare wall of vegetation has become a corridor for migrants from South America trying to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.

Over half a million people, including 113,000 children, crossed the Darien Gap in 2023 and Panamanian authorities estimate that the number of people crossing is likely to be even higher in 2024.