Right-wing Mulino bags Panama presidential vote
Mulino was made to wait for a last-minute court decision Friday that finally validated his run
Daily TribuneMulino was made to wait for a last-minute court decision Friday that finally validated his run
JOSE Raul Mulino raises his hands in victory after securing victory in Panama’s presidential election.
MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP
PANAMA CITY (AFP) — Jose Raul Mulino, the protege of a graft-convicted former head of state, was declared Panama’s president-elect after elections Sunday.
Mulino, 64, won the single-round, first-past-the-post race with more than a third of votes cast, the Central American country’s electoral tribunal said. Moments earlier, runner-up Ricardo Lombana had conceded defeat.
The election came as the country grapples with deep-rooted corruption, a severe drought that has hobbled the economically critical Panama Canal, and a stream of US-bound migrants passing through its jungles.
There were lines at many polling stations as eligible voters in the Central American nation of 4.4 million people cast their ballots for a new president, parliament and local governments to tackle those pressing issues over the next five years.
Opinion polls had shown right-wing lawyer Mulino far ahead of the pack of eight candidates. But he was made to wait for a last-minute court decision Friday that finally validated his run.
