Panama

A

Executive

The president is the single most powerful figure in government, running the executive branch and wielding influence over the legislative and judicial branches and the many autonomous agencies of government. The president governs with the help of two elected vice presidents and an appointed cabinet. Presidents are elected by popular vote, serve five-year terms, and may not be reelected.

B

Legislature

The Legislative Assembly is made up of 72 members elected for five years. The legislature writes and passes laws, ratifies presidential appointments, amends the constitution as necessary, and generally shares power with the president.

C

Judiciary

An autonomous judicial branch is headed by the nine-member Supreme Court of Justice. The president nominates and the legislature ratifies appointees to the court, who serve for ten-year terms. The Supreme Court oversees five superior courts, three courts of appeal, and all other tribunals, including municipal courts. An independent Electoral Tribunal supervises voter registration, the election process, and the activities of political parties.

D

Local Government

Panama’s nine provinces are administered by governors appointed by the president. Local government is organized around 65 districts and 505 subdistricts. Voters in these jurisdictions choose mayors and councilors to administer local business. In the cities, mayors wield significant power, but in rural areas their influence is strictly limited by lack of funds. Most local government depends on securing help from provincial and national authorities.

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Leaders of Native American groups, especially the Kuna and Ngobe-Buglé, negotiate directly with the national government. The Kuna enjoy special authority to conduct affairs in their own reservation, the Comarca of San Blas.

E

Political Parties

Panama’s parties traditionally revolve around the personalities of their leaders, rather than philosophies or organizations. As such, they operate in an unpredictable, discontinuous fashion. During the last 50 years, about half a dozen parties have achieved real prominence, while a dozen more have come and gone. As elections approach, peripheral parties usually fold into coalitions with stronger ones in order to win favors. Many parties were not founded until the 1990s, because the military leaders who took power in 1968 banned politics for more than a decade.

The Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) won the 1994 presidential election, with its candidate, Pérez Balladares, and the 2004 election, with its candidate Martín Torrijos Espino, the son of Omar Torrijos. The PRD was founded in 1978 by civilian collaborators of Omar Torrijos to give his rule political legitimacy. It selected candidates for all major offices and easily dominated elections while the military was in power. The PRD was removed from power by the 1989 U.S. invasion and was thought to be destroyed, but it made a surprising recovery. An urban party, it draws its strongest support from government employees, labor unions, and the educational system.

The Arnulfista Party was founded in 1936 as the Panamenista Party by . As the name suggests, it took its direction from its longtime leader. Although its policies varied, it usually emphasized nationalism, an independent foreign policy, and help for Panama’s working classes. The party was centrist and drew its strongest support from provinces outside the metropolitan area. Arias’s widow, Mireya Moscoso de Gruber, took over the party and ran for president in 1994, coming in second. In 1999 Moscoso was elected president, the first woman to win that office in Panama's history.

The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) led the opposition to the military in the 1980s, under the leadership of Ricardo Arias Calderón. It is regarded as the closest Panama has to a European-style party, with a defined ideology, a membership base, support from international Christian Democratic parties, and elections for party leaders. It is generally concerned with social programs, health, and education, and is nationalistic but favors close ties with the United States.

Other noted parties include Papa Egoró, a reform group founded by well-known Panamanian singer and actor Rubén Blades, and the National Liberal Republic Movement (MOLIRENA). Blades ran for president in 1994 and finished third, gaining support among young people and the urban poor by promising to improve conditions for the poor, clean up corrupt politics, protect the environment, and encourage the common people to participate in government. MOLIRENA, made up of traditional politicians, represents wealthy families who wish to exert political influence, and most members are government employees favored by these families. Its proposals are generally pro-business.