Monday
Monday 13th May 2024.
May 12, 2024
A week after the elections and after the proclamation of José Raúl Mulino as the ninth president of the Republic, the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) advocated for us all to “work as a team” for the country.
“Our union reiterates its willingness to work with the new government and all representative sectors of national life… We are ready to work as a team for Panama,” the business union highlighted in a statement released this Sunday, May 12.
He recalled that before the start of the electoral campaign they presented the Country Agenda 2024-2029 , with the purpose of providing ideas and executable actions for the issues that require immediate attention and solution.
At the same time, he sent congratulations to the President-elect as well as to those called to occupy the other popularly elected positions for the victory achieved. Also to the Electoral Tribunal for the organization of the contest and the results obtained, as well as to the National Scrutiny Board.
“Last Sunday’s elections took place in an atmosphere of tolerance, respect and high participation, as Panamanians characterize every time they go to the polls. The results, mainly in the Legislative Body, expressed the clear demand for a change that strengthens our institutions and guarantees transversal and equitable development for all,” he highlights.
From this moment on, the Chamber assures, it is up to the current and elected authorities to begin the transition process so that as of July 1, the work of making campaign promises effective and undertaking the major transformations demanded by citizens begins. about the country’s most pressing problems.
“By choosing both the President of the Republic and the deputies and other authorities to elected positions, Panamanians have placed our trust in them and we hope not to lose a single day of the five-year period in anything that does not imply progress in a constant environment of peace and development, both social and economic. “Political confrontations and sterile justifications no longer have a place in our public life,” he adds.
The Electoral Tribunal (TE) reported that voter participation in the elections held on May 5 reached 77.7%, the highest in the democratic era that began after the fall of the 21-year dictatorial regime that the country experienced between 1968 and 1989.
According to the TE’s statistical data, in 1994, after the fall of the dictatorship in 1989 with the capture of General Manuel Antonio Noriega by the United States, participation was 73.7%.
In 1999, 76.2% of voters went to the polls; in 2004 76.9%; in 2009 74%; in 2014 76.8%; in 2019 73% and in 2023, 77.7%, marking a new democratic era.
José Raúl Mulino, presidential candidate for the Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza parties, won the elections with 34.2% of the votes and will take office on July 1 for the period 2024-2029.
Realizing Goals was founded by former governor Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) and who was originally the presidential standard-bearer but was disqualified due to a conviction for money laundering.
In his proclamation speech as elected ruler of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, a 64-year-old former minister and lawyer, highlighted that he “began the political renewal of the country.”
Mulino highlighted the impressive number of independent deputies in the National Assembly, indicating that this sends a clear message that it is necessary to do things well, thinking that everything has an end.
In these elections, independent forces achieved a milestone by winning at least 20 seats in the 71-seat National Assembly.
Discontent within the ranks of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) begins to surface after the debacle that the political group suffered in the general elections of last May 5.
Omar Montilla, former vice minister and district representative of Mateo Iturralde, accused the deputies of leading the PRD to catastrophe.
“This has been the worst leadership of the party,” he assured, while recalling that during this administration (2019-2024) they conditioned the approval of any project that the Executive presented to the National Assembly .
“It was an opposition bench to the government. “ They kneeled ministers, vice ministers, directors,” he said on the TVN program Radar .
Among the projects that were not approved by the Assembly and carried out by the Executive, was the domain extinction project.
“They brought the Mexico Avenue party to the Assembly, because the majority of this CEN (National Executive Committee), which does not represent me, are deputies,” he indicated, without naming names.
In the current CEN are the Bocatoreño deputy Benicio Robinson, president of the PRD; Crispiano Adames, first vice president; Raúl Pineda, third undersecretary; Ricardo Torres, fourth undersecretary, and Julio Mendoza, fifth undersecretary. Also to Rubén de León, Parlacen deputy and current general secretary of the PRD.
According to Montilla, their positions were secured but not the rest of the membership. “They totally deceived the candidate, the standard bearer [José Gabriel Carrizo] of the PRD. They made huge caravans for him, with paid people. They mobilized her from one place to another, however, that was not reflected on election day,” she complained.
Carrizo, a former presidential candidate, came in sixth place with 5.8% of the votes, even behind Zulay Rodríguez. It was the candidate José Raúl Mulino, from Realizing Goals, who won the presidential elections with 34% of the votes.
After an operation carried out in a workshop in Parque Lefevre, police and Public Ministry (MP) agents found a large amount of drugs.
Heysis Ayala, MP drug prosecutor, reported this Sunday, May 12, that they arrested a man of Colombian nationality and seized a total of 775 packages of drugs.
The illicit substance was hidden in a false wall of the workshop, located on Zaragoza Street. A vehicle that would be linked to the transfer of drugs was also seized, according to the Police.
In February 2024, the Monthly Economic Activity Index (Imae) had a slight increase of 0.19% compared to the same month of the previous year, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec).
This is a decrease compared to the 6.23% registered a year ago.
The trend showed a positive interannual variation rate of 0.28%. In the accumulated period from January to February 2024, the Imae increased by 1.22% compared to the same period in 2023.
The economic activities that contributed positively were: the sale of 91 octane gasoline and liquefied gas for national consumption, the re-export of goods from the Colón Free Zone, new cars registered in the vehicle registry and retail trade in the sector. trade. The movement of Teu containers, telecommunications, commercial movement in the Colón Free Zone and air transport also influenced. Financial intermediation remained positive due to the growth of the credit portfolio and bank deposits.
In production, chicken meat, pasteurized milk, alcoholic and soft drinks, poultry farming, banana and watermelon cultivation for export, total renewable generation of electricity and thermal energy, water consumption and billing drinking water, fishing activity with greater catch of fish and fish fillet, and hotel and restaurant services also had a positive impact.
Amusement and leisure services, the sale of chances and lottery tickets, horse riding activities, slot machines, gaming tables and games of luck and chance also contributed, as did domestic services and real estate, business and rental activities.
The activities that showed negative variations were the sale of 95 octane gasoline and registered imports of the CIF value in the commercial sector, toll income from the Panama Canal and net tons in transportation, storage and communications.
In construction, the low execution of public and private investments affected the behavior of the economy, as did the closure of mining activity and the lower demand for basic material in mining and quarrying.
The manufacturing of foods such as evaporated, condensed and powdered milk, the slaughter of cattle and pigs, and tomato derivatives were affected in the manufacturing industry.
In agriculture, livestock raising and tomato and pineapple cultivation for export also showed negative variations, as did private health services due to the lower number of patients admitted to private hospitals.
The units of the National Directorate of Transit Operations have issued 2,567 tickets for violations of the Traffic Regulations in the last 24 hours.
Of these, 297 were for exceeding the speed limits; 15 for proven drunkenness and 225 for carrying inappropriate lights, according to traffic regulations.
111 raids were carried out, where five firearms, $6,130.50 in cash, 180 packages of drugs, 31 ammunition, one vehicle recovered and two seized were seized. There was also an emergency evacuation and three boats were seized.
In turn, 218 people were arrested; 128 by trades; 53 for administrative offenses; 18 for flagrancy; 13 for micro-trafficking and six for drug trafficking.