Seven of the eight candidates for the Presidency of Panama faced each other for the second time on March 13 at night, in a debate organized by the Electoral Tribunal and specifically dedicated to young people, in which topics such as corruption and the decentralization of the State resources set the agenda. The absence of José Raúl Mulino, opposition candidate – replacement for the disqualified former president Ricardo Martinelli – and the favorite for the May 5 elections, according to polls, did not go unnoticed.
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The Electoral Tribunal event inaugurated a presidential debate format in Central America: the questions were directly asked by the public, selected in this case to represent Panamanian youth. The topic of corruption in the Latin American nation opened the day.
“Here we see an empty chair, precisely the product of corruption,” accused social democrat José Gabriel Carrizo, official candidate, in the first section of the debate.
The opponent José Raúl Mulino explained his absence from the debate in a interview on tuesday, alleging that the invitation from the Electoral Tribunal arrived only on Monday and that he rejected it because he had prior “commitments” “attending an agenda that does not leave him free minutes.” Furthermore, “I don't think the format contributes,” she said.
According to a survey by the Mercado Planificado company, 26% of those surveyed would vote for Mulino, making him the favorite. The lawyer and former Minister of Security (2009-2014) became a candidate for the Presidency on March 5, after the sentencing of former president Ricardo Martinelli to more than ten years in prison for money laundering.
Corruption, at the center of the debate
The candidates Ricardo Lombana, Martín Torrijos, Rómulo Roux, José Gabriel Carrizo, Maribel Gordón and Zulay Rodríguez responded to the public on the issue that has marked the Panamanian electoral period.
Among the proposals highlighted by local media is that of the opposition Lombana, second favorite in the Planned Market survey, to transform the already existing Transparency Authority into a national agency for investigating corruption cases.
Its objective is to “cut off the money movements of the corrupt” with an autonomous entity.
For her part, populist deputy Zulay Rodríguez proposed eliminating corruption through a profound reform of the Panamanian State, with an ordinary Constituent Assembly. “We have to change the Court, Legislative and Executive, we have to remove and ensure that the people who come here are based on meritocracy,” she declared.
Another topic that marked the debate was that of the decentralization of State resources, for which a citizen asked the question “What is your strategy to improve the supervision of funds transferred to local entities, achieving the works and projects for those who are destined?”
However, despite a slight change in topic, it once again focused on corruption, between accusations of the political class of mismanagement of public resources and also corruption with state funds sent to the regions.
“They decentralized corruption from the central government to local governments, that has a high cost,” candidate Maribel Gordón, from Free Postulation, said in this regard.
For his part, the candidate and former president Martín Torrijos insisted that the objective of decentralization is “citizen participation so that the resources destined for the communities do not continue to be stolen.”
The next Panamanian president will be elected in a single round, by simple majority. According to data from the Electoral Tribunal, youth represent 38.9% of the electoral roll, so on May 5 their vote will be decisive.
With local media, EFE, AFP
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