With ample support Laurentino Cortizo won the primaries of the PRD Party

PANAMA - In Brief 17 Sep 2018 by Marco Fernandez

Laurentino Cortizo (Nito) was elected presidential candidate of the PRD for the May 2019 elections in Sunday’s primaries. Several key issues are relevant for the future: (1) The participation of the party members was higher than expectations (60.5% of the affiliated members, or more than three hundred thousand valid votes ) despite a rainy weather; (2) Cortizo obtained two thirds of the votes, more than expected for the winner in what was considered a potentially close battle between three of the candidates; (3) Zulay Rodriguez, a populist legislator came in second with twenty percent of the votes; and (4) Ernesto Pérez Balladares, former President (1994-1999), a reformist economist, obtained less than ten percent of the votes, a surprisingly poor result.PRD is likely to win next years elections given the support shown in the primaries for the party and for Cortizo. He is a 65 years-old with an MBA from University of Texas at Austin. He was Vice-presidential candidate in the Martin Torrijos ticket during the (failed) campaign of 1999. Cortizo was elected to the Legislative Assembly during two periods (1994-2004). Torrijos appointed him as Minister of Agriculture from 2004 to 2006, when Cortizo resigned in protest for the agriculture and livestock clauses of the FTA with USA. He is a protectionist in international trade. Torrijos, however, gave his backing to Cortizo in this primary campaign.Even if the new candidate is not a reformer -he dodged questions about pensions and tax reforms- he promised to bring to his Cabinet individuals who had experience with economic policies, in the Torrijos years as well as in Perez Balladares’. He promised to undertake a Constitutiona...

Now read on...

Register to sample a report

Register