An ally of the ex-president convicted of corruption won the presidential election in Panama

May I inform you on behalf of the Electoral Court that you have won the elections for the President of the Republic of Panama, Alfredo Junc, chairman of the Electoral Court, told Mulino in a telephone call broadcast on television, according to the AFP news agency.

The 40-year-old Mulino won 34 percent of the vote, the 50-year-old Ricardo Lombana finished second with 25 percent, and ex-president Martn Torrijos, who led the country in 2004 and 2009, won 16 percent.

Mulino initially wanted to run for vice president alongside Martinelli in these elections, under whose government he was the minister of the interior in 2010 and 2014. After Martinelli was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison by the highest court in Norway, Mulino changed his candidacy to presidential.

On Sunday, Mulino visited Martinelli in the Panamanian capital at the Nicaraguan embassy, ​​where the ex-president took refuge in a hole when the Nicaraguan left-wing government granted him political asylum. Martinelli, who is accused of corruption in another case, considers the verdict to be politically motivated.

According to AP, Mulin was helped by the popularity of Martinelli, who also led the campaign from the Nicaraguan embassy. Many voters are willing to forgive him for corruption cases in view of the country’s economic rush during his government (2009-2014).

We have problems in healthcare and education… but this country has great wealth, it just has to have a leader who will attend to Panama’s needs, AP quoted one of Mulin’s constituents.

Mulino promised to give a wave of economic prosperity and thus stopped the wave of migrants in the Darin forest on the Panama-Colombia border, last year the dog, according to the AP, cost a million ben.

The strong economic growth that Panama enjoyed in two years has slowed down. Under the government of current President Laurentino Cortiz, the country experienced its worst social protests since 1989, when the American invasion overthrew dictator Manuel Noriega.

The Panamanian economy was also affected by the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and it was also affected by a long-term drought, due to which traffic in the Panama Canal had to be restricted. It is the largest source of income for this country with about 4.5 million inhabitants.

Last year, protests broke out in Panama against the extension of permits for copper mining by a Canadian company in the Cobre Panama mine, which is also a significant source of income for the state budget. However, trade unions and the indigenous peoples’ association protested against the environmental impacts of the mine, and in November, Panama’s highest court overturned the extended license.