Panamanian_general_election,_2014
2014 Panamanian general election
General election held in Panama
General elections were held in Panama on 4 May 2014.[1] Due to constitutional term limits, Incumbent President Ricardo Martinelli was ineligible for a second consecutive term. Incumbent Vice President Juan Carlos Varela of the Partido Panameñista was declared the victor with 39% of the votes.[2]
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Of the 71 members of the National Assembly, 26 were elected in single-member constituencies and 45 by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Each district with more than 40,000 inhabitants forms a constituency. Constituencies elect one MP for every 30,000 residents and an additional representative for every fraction over 10,000.[3]
In single-member constituencies MPs are elected using the first-past-the-post system. In multi-member constituencies MPs are elected using party list proportional representation according to a double quotient; the first allocation of seats uses a simple quotient, further seats are allotted using the quotient divided by two, with any remaining seats are awarded to the parties with the greatest remainder.[3]
Seven candidates contested the election:[4]
- José Domingo Arias – Cambio Democrático (CD), a former minister in Martinelli's government
- Juan Carlos Navarro - Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), former mayor of Panama City
- Juan Carlos Varela - Panameñista Party, incumbent Vice President
- Genaro López - Broad Front for Democracy (FAD), former General Secretary of the SUNTRACS union
- Juan Jované - Independent, former head of the Social Security administration, and a left-wing economist
- Esteban Rodríguez - Independent
- Gerardo Barroso - Independent
| Poll source | Date | José Domingo Arias (CD) |
Juan Carlos Navarro (PRD) |
Juan Carlos Varela (Panameñista) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dichter & Neira[5] | March 2014 | 39% | 32% | 26% |
| Ipsos[5] | March 2014 | 33% | 31% | 26% |
| Dichter & Neira[6] | 23 April 2014 | 35% | 30% | 32% |
| Ipsos[7] | 23 April 2014 | 33.9% | 34.2% | 29.1% |
President
| Candidate | Party or alliance | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Carlos Varela | The People First | Panameñista Party | 563,584 | 30.39 | ||
| People's Party | 161,178 | 8.69 | ||||
| Total | 724,762 | 39.09 | ||||
| José Domingo Arias | United for Change | Democratic Change | 483,309 | 26.07 | ||
| Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement | 98,519 | 5.31 | ||||
| Total | 581,828 | 31.38 | ||||
| Juan Carlos Navarro | Democratic Revolutionary Party | 521,842 | 28.14 | |||
| Genaro López | Broad Front for Democracy | 11,127 | 0.60 | |||
| Juan Jované | Independent | 10,805 | 0.58 | |||
| Esteban Rodríguez | Independent | 2,240 | 0.12 | |||
| Gerardo Barroso | Independent | 1,598 | 0.09 | |||
| Total | 1,854,202 | 100.00 | ||||
| Valid votes | 1,854,202 | 98.30 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 32,106 | 1.70 | ||||
| Total votes | 1,886,308 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,457,401 | 76.76 | ||||
| Source: Election Tribunal, Electoral Tribunal | ||||||
National Assembly
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Change | 573,603 | 33.72 | 30 | +16 | |
| Democratic Revolutionary Party | 535,747 | 31.49 | 25 | –1 | |
| Panameñista Party | 343,880 | 20.22 | 12 | –10 | |
| Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement | 121,815 | 7.16 | 2 | 0 | |
| People's Party | 56,629 | 3.33 | 1 | 0 | |
| Broad Front for Democracy | 17,224 | 1.01 | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 52,184 | 3.07 | 1 | –1 | |
| Total | 1,701,082 | 100.00 | 71 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 1,701,082 | 92.06 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 146,718 | 7.94 | |||
| Total votes | 1,847,800 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,457,401 | 75.19 | |||
| Source: Election Tribunal | |||||
Although Democratic Change won 30 seats and MOLIRENA two, rival candidates in 10 of the circuits won by CD and 1 of those won by MOLIRENA said there were irregularities throughout the elections that favored the winning parties. As such, the Electoral Tribunal of Panama annulled the results in those circuits and new special elections were to be held every Sunday from 16 November 2014 to determine which candidate would win those 11 seats.
| Election Date | Circuit | Candidate | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 November 2014 | 7-1 | Carlos "Tito" Afú | Democratic Change (CD) |
| 23 November 2014 | 2-4 | Noriel Salerno | Democratic Change (CD) |
| 30 November 2014 | 7-2 | Mariela Vega | Democratic Change (CD) |
| 14 December 2014 | 4-1 | Miguel Fanovich | Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA) |
| 14 December 2014 | 4-1 | Florentino Ábrego | Panameñista Party |
- "Vice President Juan Carlos Varela wins Panama's presidential race, topping field of 7". U.S. News. 4 May 2014.
- Zissis, Carin (28 March 2014). "Poll Update: Panama's Ruling-Party Candidate ahead in Possible Close Race". Americas Society / Council of the Americas.
- "Intención de Voto Presidencial - Encuesta TVN y Dichter & Neira". TVN Noticias Panamá. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014.
- "Panamá Opina - Telemetro Reporta". Telemetro Reporta. 23 April 2014.