Herrera, Martinelli
Still Popular in Panama
(Angus Reid Global
Monitor) - One-in-four
Panamanian adults would
cast a ballot for
housing minister Balbina
Herrera in next year’s
presidential election,
according to a poll by
Dichter & Neira
published in La Prensa.
25.1 per cent of
respondents would vote
for the ruling
Revolutionary Democratic
Party (PRD) member.
Ricardo Martinelli of
the opposition
Democratic Change (CD)
is second with 20.3 per
cent, followed by PRD
member Juan Carlos
Navarro with 13.2 per
cent. Support is lower
for Alberto Vallarino
and Juan Carlos Varela
of the Panameñista Party
(PPA), and former
president Guillermo
Endara of the Moral
Vanguard of the Homeland
(VMP).
PRD member Martín
Torrijos—the son of Omar
Torrijos, an army
general who ruled Panama
from 1968 to 1981—won
the May 2004
presidential election
with 47.44 per cent of
the vote. Torrijos’
tenure has been marked
by his support for an
ambitious plan to expand
the Panama Canal with an
investment of $5.25
billion U.S. In October
2006, the proposal was
ratified in a nationwide
referendum.
On Apr. 9, Martinelli
vowed to bring down
energy costs, saying,
"The high price of
electricity is making
Panamanian businesses
less competitive, and
they are being directly
affected in the
purchasing power of most
of their users."
The next presidential
election is scheduled
for May 3, 2009.
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