Panama
Panama performs at the high range in Representation and in the mid-range in Rights, Rule of Law and Participation. It is among the top 25 per cent of countries with regard to Credible Elections, Free Political Parties, Elected Government, Local Democracy, Civil Liberties, Personal Integrity and Security, and Electoral Participation. Over the past five years, it has maintained steady performance, with no notable advances or declines. Panama is a high-income country with an economy centered around the services sector, which includes the Panama Canal and financial services. Agriculture, the construction industry, and mining also contribute to Panama’s economy.
Panama gained its independence from Spain in 1821 and seceded from Colombia in 1903. Politics are largely driven by unrest about corruption and related concerns about poverty and inequality. The economy has been particularly vulnerable to external shocks in recent years, leading to inflation, growing unemployment, and skyrocketing fuel prices. This has pushed Panamanians to a boiling point, starkly illustrated through a 2022 protest that blocked the Pan-American Highway. Protesters have called for price caps on food and increased government spending on education, which the government has not traditionally prioritized. Corruption remains a significant problem in Panama: it is estimated that the country loses about one per cent of its GDP to corruption each year. Further, while elections in Panama are typically free and fair, with orderly transfers of power, a 2021 electoral code reform has been condemned by civil society groups for reducing electoral transparency and fairness.
The majority of Panama’s population is Mestizo, with Indigenous, Black and Mulatto minorities. Indigenous peoples make up roughly 12 per cent of the population and have a significant degree of autonomy, with six self-governed comarcas in the country. Remote Indigenous communities, however, often lack access to basic services, and large-scale development projects, like the Barro Blanco Hydroelectric dam, encroach on indigenous land without consent. Afro-Panamanians, who represent 14.9 per cent of the population (according to national data from 2015), face disproportionate levels of unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, and discrimination in practice. In the past years, migration has become increasingly salient, as Panama is used as a transit route for migration. In 2022, a record number (over 250,000) of irregular migrants entered the country, heavily straining the system of response.
Despite having a legal framework that promotes and monitors gender equality, the Covid-19 pandemic exposed gender-based vulnerabilities in the country, including a rise in domestic violence and femicide during this period. Women’s political participation and representation remain a challenge, and a recent reform to the electoral code was criticized for failing to include gender-equality requirements in party politics.
In the coming years, it will be important to watch if waning confidence in traditional political parties leads to outsider or independent candidates, particularly in the 2024 presidential election, or to a new period of democratic citizenship and culture, as this could have implications for participation and other aspects related to civic engagement and effective government. Also to watch in the coming years will be how the Panamanian government continues to pursue institutional efforts towards strengthening the rule of law, considering its challenges in tackling corruption, and allocating public spending for education and general welfare.
Monthly Event Reports
March 2024 | Electoral Tribunal confirms ineligibility of former president
The Electoral Tribunal confirmed the ineligibility of former president Ricardo Martinelli to run in the upcoming presidential election, given his criminal conviction for money laundering, ratified last month by the Supreme Court. Martinelli, who is currently seeking asylum in the Nicaraguan embassy, had appealed his ineligibility after the Tribunal first decided on the matter in early March. The Tribunal further determined that Jose Raul Mulino, who was Martinelli’s running mate, can hold the presidential candidacy for the Realizando Metas (RM) and Alianza alliance. The Tribunal determined Mulino will appear on the ballot without a running mate, a decision criticised by some analysts as a restrictive interpretation of the law. Further, a lawyer filed a constitutional appeal before the Supreme Court against Mulino taking over the presidential candidacy for RM and Alianza, in which it is argued that because Mulino did not participate in a primary as a presidential candidate, it contravenes party rules and the constitution.
February 2024 | Former President Martinelli sentenced to 10 years for money laundering
The Supreme Court confirmed former President Ricardo Martinelli’s conviction for money laundering as well as his 10.5-year sentence. The Court’s ruling results in Martinelli’s ineligibility to run in Panama’s upcoming presidential elections, given that the sentence imposes more than five years imprisonment. Martinelli had won the primaries of his political party, Realizando Metas, last June. The ruling comes days before electoral campaigns officially commenced and is related to Martinelli’s involvement in corruption schemes for which he had been arrested years prior in the United States and subsequently extradited. He is the first former president of Panama to be convicted for money laundering.
November 2023 | Supreme Court strikes down controversial mining contract
Following more than a month of mass protests and criticism over its approval process, the Supreme Court declared the unconstitutionality of Law 406, which granted Canadian company First Quantum Minerals a 20-year concession to extract copper from a biodiverse, protected area. Among other issues, the Court found that the contract violated 25 articles of Panama’s constitution, including the constitutional protection to human rights such as the right to life, health, and to a safe and healthy environment free from pollution. As a result, Minera Panama — Central America's largest open-pit copper mine, will be closed. Environmental activists, teachers, union leaders and Indigenous Peoples had joined massive protests blocking main highways and port access to the mine. Critics argued the contract would negatively impact the environment and access to water for communities, and strongly opposed the lack of public consultation around the bill. President Laurentino Cortizo said his government would abide by the ruling, while the Canadian company expressed it would seek arbitration, defending the contract’s validity and benefits, including cash inflow and thousands of jobs.
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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022
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