Former Minister is Early Favourite in Panama

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(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Former housing minister Balbina Herrera is a popular choice in the early stages of Panama’s 2009 presidential race, according to a poll by Dichter & Neira published in La Prensa. 26.1 per cent of respondents would vote for Herrera of the governing Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) in the ballot, up one point since April.

Ricardo Martinelli of the opposition Democratic Change (CD) is second with 19.3 per cent, followed by PRD member Juan Carlos Navarro with 14.8 per cent. Support is lower for Juan Carlos Varela and Alberto Vallarino 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.

The PRD will hold a primary ballot to select the party’s official candidate on Sept. 7.

In late April, Herrera voluntarily presented a list of campaign donors to the country’s electoral tribunal in order to shrug off rumours that linked her to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Herrera said that she wanted to demonstrate that Chávez is not on the list, assured that she has "never" met him, and added that she directed the tribunal to find out "who is responsible for spreading this type of information."

The next presidential election in Panama is scheduled for May 3, 2009.