Presidential Debate Begins in Panama for May Elections

On Tuesday, in Panama, the first presidential debate was held with 7 of the 8 candidates for power. The main themes were citizen insecurity, sustainable development, the Social Security Fund (SSC), quality education and unemployment.

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The participants in the presidential debate were: Ricardo Lombana, from the Movimiento Otro Camino (MOCA); José Gabriel Carrizo, from the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD); former president Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), from the Partido Popular (PP) and Rómulo Roux, from Cambio Democrático (CD) and the Panamanian Party, in addition to Maribel Gordón, Zulay Rodríguez and Melitón Arrocha for free nomination.

The debate was characterized by insults, humiliation and personal attacks, but it also had general ideas before the 5 May elections.

On the other hand, candidate Ricardo Martinelli, former president from 2009 to 2014, was absent due to his isolation in the Nicaraguan embassy and faces the 10-year sentence he faces for money laundering and corruption.

The dynamics of the debate consisted of a round of 5 questions, with a confrontation between two candidates.

All the candidates agreed on the fight against unemployment, the main scourge of Panamanian society. Despite the importance of this issue, the time devoted to addressing it was very short, which is the focus of questions and complaints.

In Panama, according to official figures, the presence of unemployment is currently 7.4 percent, since youth unemployment reaches a rate of 15 percent, being higher among women, and informality is 47.4 percent.

The next two presidential debates are scheduled for 13 March and 17 April. The second will be popular participation and the third will deal with issues of economy and democracy.