PANAMA

On May 5, the candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Laurentino Cortizo, was elected president of Panama with 33.18% of the vote, just 2.14% ahead of Romulo Roux (Democratic Change) who garnered 31.04% votes. Cortizo, who will be in office for the next five years, is to drive a bill on financial technologies to upgrade the country’s financial system. However, to do so, he will need the support of the opposition, since in the legislative elections held simultaneously with the presidential elections, he did not secure a majority of his party in Congress.

The key to Cortizo’s victory was his performance in rural areas, where he won broad support thanks to his promises to promote national production and encourage a more equitable redistribution of wealth.

Cortizo has five years in which to carry out his administration’s agenda. Among his promises is the promotion of a financial technology bill to overhaul the financial system. But to achieve this, he will need to negotiate with the opposition, as only 29 of the 71 congressional legislators were from the PRD.