PANAMA CITY, Panama: Panamanians are voting today (Sunday) in a crowded field of eight candidates in a presidential election, with the protege of ex-head of state convicted of graft in the lead.
Conservative lawyer Jose Raul Mulino, 64, is far ahead in opinion polls with about 37 percent of voters, according to the latest poll.
However, he had to wait for the court’s decision on Friday, which finally confirmed his candidacy.
Of the seven other candidates, only three came close to 15 percent support in the Central American country, which is struggling with deep-rooted corruption, a severe drought that has crippled its economically critical Panama Canal and a stream of US-bound migrants passing through its jungle.
Behind Mulino are former social democrat Martin Torrijos and two center-right politicians: Martinelli-era foreign minister Romulo Roux and Ricardo Lombana, a former ambassador to the United States.
Polls show more undecided voters than support any of Mulin’s seven rivals.
“Frontman for a confirmed cheater”
Mulino replaced former president Ricardo Martinelli on the right-wing Realizing Goals (RM) candidate after Martinelli lost an appeal against a money laundering conviction.
The candidacy of Mulino, who was Martinelli’s vice presidential candidate until the former leader’s disqualification, was challenged on the grounds that he did not win the primaries or choose his own candidate as required by law.
The Supreme Court rejected that complaint on Friday in a decision welcomed by Martinelli, who most Panamanians believe will control from behind the scenes, according to a recent poll.
Still popular in Panama, Martinelli found asylum with his dog Bruno in the Nicaraguan embassy, from where he campaigned for his protege.
Many yearn for the days of economic prosperity under Martinelli’s administration from 2009 to 2014, helped by an infrastructure boom that included the expansion of a canal and the construction of the first Central American subway line.
Polls show that voters’ main concerns are the high cost of living, access to drinking water and crime.
Mulino, who served as Martinelli’s public safety chief, dismissed the criminal case against his former boss as politically motivated and could soon have the power to pardon him.
Panamanian salsa legend and activist Ruben Blades urged his countrymen on Friday not to vote for a man he described as “the frontman of a confirmed crook.”
