Judging by the difference between the early projections and the way that things are actually shaping up, one might think that the PRD caucus of a Legislative Assembly whose public approval rating is in single digits dodged a bullet. However, with the general elections still more than eight months away, we already know that nearly one-third of the PRD legislature won’t be there when the next assembly convenes.
The PRD, unlike any of the other political parties, chooses all of its candidates for elective offices by party primaries. About 55 percent of the membership turned out on August 10 to take part in the nominating process.
However, as open as the party that General Torrijos founded is by comparison to the others, there are certain closed and opaque aspects. For example, the party never released lists of the people running for the various offices. Thus it wasn’t until the votes had been cast that the public learned that five deputies --- Balbina Herrera, Andrés Vega, Arcelio Batista, Manuel de la Hoz and Carlos Afú --- had decided not to seek their party’s nomination for another term.
It wasn’t a surprise in Afú’s case, and it may not mean the end of his legislative career. The PRD renegade from Los Santos is the margin by which Mireya Moscoso controls the assembly, so legal maneuvers have been dragged out to nullify or at least delay the PRD’s constitutional prerogative to purge him from the party and remove him from the legislature, at least until the election of officers for the last year of this assembly’s mandate and the patronage that flows from these choices have been sewn up by Mireya’s followers. After that, there is a good chance that Afú will run for reelection as an Arnulfista.
It probably shouldn’t have been a surprise in Herrera’s case either. As one of the most astute people in Panamanian politics she surely figures that a lot of PRD legislators are going to lose their jobs, but if Martín Torrijos maintains his lead in the polls through Election Day she, as a veteran party leader, is likely to have a cabinet post waiting for her if she wants one.
First reports were that six incumbent legislators who did seek another term were rejected by their party’s rank-and-file. At one point Telemetro reported that “at least 10” incumbents had been thrown out.
As it turned out, reports that taxi syndicate leader and veteran Arraijan legislator Vicente Magallón had been bounced out in the primary were premature. It turns out he got his party’s last nomination for a multi-member district, a showing that does not, however, bode well for his chances in the general election.
Denied renomination for sure were deputies Miguel Bush, Mateo Castillero, Omar Chen, Sergio Tócamo and Hirisnel Sucre. It means that 10 of the party’s 34 legislators are already out of the 2004 race.
By and large the PRD dissidents who gave Mireya Moscoso control of the legislature and decided to run again did well. Assembly president Carlos Alvarado and legislator Olivia de Pomares were among the top vote-getters in the primaries. However, in most multi-member circuits the top vote-getters were newcomers, which indicates that a number of those incumbents who did get through their primaries are in deep trouble for the general election.
In municipal primaries, Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro beat back three token challengers by garnering some 85 percent of the vote, and all city council members who sought renomination won their primaries with the exception of Juan Diaz representante Sergio Gómez, who lost to Francisco Sucre. The PRD's mayoral candidates in other major districts include Héctor Carrasquilla in San Miguelito, Antonio Latiff in Colon, Francisco Vigil in David, Emilio Vásquez in Boquete, Manuel Cárdenas in Penonome, Estela de Chiu in Bocas del Toro, Didier Ríos in Anton, Eduardo Carda in Chitre, Melquiades González in Las Tablas, Víctor López in San Carlos, César Hernández in Chame, Luis Guerra in La Chorrera, Alberto de Santis in Arraijan and Rubén Patiño in Santiago.
In 10 races, mostly for representantes, the official results have been challenged. In a few places actas disappeared, then showed up to change the outcomes of tight races. In one urban neighborhood the local street gangs decided to hold one of their periodic shootouts in front of the PRD voting station, sending voters and election officials scrambling for cover. By and large, however, the selection of the main opposition party’s hundreds of candidates for national and local offices proceeded smoothly to their peaceful, unchallenged conclusions.
Also in this section:
Panama News Briefs
Arias Calderón on Panama's past, present and future
PRD holds its local and legislative primaries
AUC arms case still reverberates
Panama Information, Hotels of Panama - Executive Hotel
Panama Information, Real estate in Boquete - Valle Escondido
Panama Information, Real Estate in Las Cumbres - Villa Concordia
