Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, of the Achieving Goals occasion, celebrates after profitable on the day of the overall electing in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
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Matias Delacroix/AP
Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, of the Achieving Goals occasion, celebrates after profitable on the day of the overall electing in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
PANAMA CITY — José Raúl Mulino, the stand-in for former President Ricardo Martinelli in Panama’s presidential election, was set to turn out to be the brand new chief of the Central American nation as authorities unofficially referred to as the race Sunday night time after his three nearest rivals conceded.
The 64-year-old former safety minister had practically 35% of the votes with greater than 92% of the votes counted, giving him a nine-point lead over his nearest competitor.
Mulino changed Martinelli as candidate after the firebrand former chief was banned from working after being sentenced to 10 years in jail for cash laundering.
“Mission accomplished,” Mulino informed a crowd of supporters, including an expletive for emphasis. “This is perhaps the most important date of my life, and the greatest responsibility of a Panamanian falls on my shoulders and my family to lead the destiny of the nation.”
In his speech, he nodded to Martinelli, saying: “When you invited me to be vice president, I never imagined this.”
Supporters of Achieving Goals presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino have fun early outcomes after the closing of polls for normal elections in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
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Matias Delacroix/AP
Supporters of Achieving Goals presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino have fun early outcomes after the closing of polls for normal elections in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
Mulino, a much less charismatic politician, coasted on Martinelli’s reputation and the booming economic system seen underneath the previous chief as Martinelli campaigned whereas staying within the Nicaraguan Embassy, the place he had sought asylum.
Now, following one of the tumultuous elections in Panama’s latest historical past, Mulino is about to turn out to be the brand new chief of a rustic with urgent challenges and simmering discontent amongst many.
The president will grapple with a slowed economic system, historic ranges of migration, a drought that’s handicapping transit within the Panama Canal and the financial aftermath of mass anti-mining protests final yr.
“It’s a very bizarre situation, unprecedented. I haven’t seen anything quite like this, not only in Panama but any other Latin American country that I could think of,” mentioned Michael Shifter, a senior fellow on the Inter-American Dialogue. “Panama is in for a tumultuous period.”
Preliminary outcomes confirmed that greater than 77% of eligible voters forged ballots, a historic turnout in a rustic the place voting shouldn’t be compulsory, additional underscoring the significance of the election within the minds of Panamanians.
Panama does not have a runoff system, so the candidate with the most important share of votes wins.
Mulino, working underneath the Achieving Goals and Alliance events, confronted off towards anti-corruption candidate Ricardo Lombana, who trailed in second, former President Martín Torrijos and former candidate Rómulo Roux.
All three conceded Sunday night, and outgoing President Laurentino Cortizo’s workplace mentioned he referred to as Mulino to supply congratulations and pledge to work with him for an orderly transition.
An electoral employee holds a poll as he counts them after normal elections polls closed in Panama City, on Sunday.
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An electoral employee holds a poll as he counts them after normal elections polls closed in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
Mulino’s ties with Martinelli are what appeared to drag him throughout the end line. Mulino ran on the promise to usher in one other wave of financial prosperity, and cease migration by way of the Darien Gap, the perilous jungle area overlapping Colombia and Panama that was traversed by half 1,000,000 migrants final yr.
The lawyer additionally vowed to assist his ally in his authorized woes. After voting Sunday, Mulino strolled into the Nicaraguan Embassy trailed by photographers and wrapped Martinelli in a giant hug, saying, “Brother, we’re going to win!”
Before even half of the votes had been counted, supporters in Mulino’s marketing campaign headquarters erupted in celebration, singing and waving flags.
Martinelli posted a blurry photograph of his personal face on the X social media platform, writing: “This is the face of a happy and content man.” Now that Mulino is on his manner in, what stays unclear is that if the president-elect will turn out to be “Martinelli’s puppet” or if he’ll chart his personal path, Shifter mentioned.
A person votes assisted by a girl throughout a normal election in Panama City, on Sunday.
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A person votes assisted by a girl throughout a normal election in Panama City, on Sunday.
Matias Delacroix/AP
Despite the fatigue of endemic corruption in Panama, many citizens like Juan José Tinoco had been prepared to miss the opposite corruption scandals plaguing their former chief in favor of the buzzing economic system seen throughout his presidency. The 63-year-old bus driver voted for Mulino from his working-class space of small, concrete homes surrounded by extravagant skyscrapers.
“We have problems with health services, education, we have garbage in the streets … and corruption that never goes away,” Tinoco mentioned. “We have money here. This is a country that has lots of wealth, but we need a leader who dedicates himself to the needs of Panama.”
The presidential race had been in unsure waters till Friday morning, when Panama’s Supreme Court dominated that Mulino was permitted to run. It mentioned he was eligible regardless of allegations that his candidacy wasn’t authentic as a result of he wasn’t elected in a major.
Mulino faces an uphill battle transferring ahead, on the economic system particularly. Last yr, the Central American nation was roiled for weeks by mass anti-government protests, which got here to encapsulate deeper discontent amongst residents.
The protests focused a authorities contract with a copper mine, which critics mentioned endangered the setting and water at a time when drought has gotten so dangerous that it has successfully handicapped commerce transit by way of the Panama Canal.
While many celebrated in November when the nation’s Supreme Court declared the contract unconstitutional, the mine closure and slashed canal transit will put Panama’s new chief in a good spot.
Meanwhile, the nation’s debt is skyrocketing and far of the economic system has slowed, mentioned Shifter, of Inter-American Dialogue, making it even tougher for Mulino to regularize canal transit and staunch hovering ranges of migration by way of the Darien Gap.
“Panama is at a very different moment than it’s been over the last 30 years,” Shifter mentioned. Mulino “is going to face formidable obstacles. I mean, it’s going to be a daunting task for him.”