2019 Panamanian general election

General elections were held in Panama on 5 May 2019. Due to constitutional term limits, incumbent President Juan Carlos Varela was ineligible for a second consecutive term. Businessman and politician Laurentino Cortizo of the centre-left Democratic Revolutionary Party won the election with around 33% of the vote, narrowly defeating Rómulo Roux of the centre-right Democratic Change, who won 31% of the vote. The PRD also won a majority in the National Assembly. The ruling Panameñista Party of President Juan Carlos Varela suffered its worst result in history. Its candidate, Panama City mayor José Isabel Blandón, received only 11% of the vote and came in fourth behind independent candidate Ricardo Lombana. The party also lost half its seats in the National Assembly.

Background
Incumbent President Juan Carlos Varela was elected in 2014 with 39% of the vote. Polls showed him to be the second most unpopular president in Latin America by 2018, with a 57% disapproval rating.

Corruption became a major issue during the campaign, being the first election held after the Panama Papers leak, which exposed the extent of the country's involvement in tax evasion. Investigations into mass bribery by the Brazilian company Odebrecht also took place during the preceding presidential term, with the presidential administrations of Martín Torrijos, Ricardo Martinelli, and Juan Carlos Varela all being subject to scrutiny. Martinelli was also investigated for wiretapping political opponents, which resulted in his being disqualified in his campaigns for Assembly deputy and Panama City mayor.

Electoral system
The President was elected through plurality vote in one round.

Of the 71 members of the National Assembly, 26 were elected in single-member constituencies and 45 by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Each district with more than 40,000 inhabitants formed a constituency. Constituencies elected one MP for every 30,000 residents and an additional representative for every fraction over 10,000.

In single-member constituencies, MPs were elected using the first-past-the-post system. In multi-member constituencies MPs were elected using party list proportional representation according to a double quotient; the first allocation of seats used a simple quotient, further seats were allotted using the quotient divided by two, with any remaining seats are awarded to the parties with the greatest remainder.

Presidential candidates
The following seven candidates contested the election:


 * Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo – Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)
 * José Isabel Blandón - Panameñista Party
 * Rómulo Roux - Cambio Democrático (CD)
 * Saúl Méndez - Broad Front for Democracy (FAD)
 * Ana Matilde Gómez - Independent
 * Marco Ameglio - Independent
 * Ricardo Lombana - Independent

Democratic Revolutionary Party
Nito Cortizo won the PRD's presidential primary, held on 16 September 2023. He defeated Assembly member Zulay Rodríguez and former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares. The Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement allied itself with the PRD. He selected José Gabriel Carrizo as his running mate.

Panameñista Party
Panama City mayor José Blandón won the Panameñista primary, beating former Housing Minister Mario Etchelecu. The People's Party allied itself with the Panameñista Party, maintaining the alliance that had also been seen in the 2014 elections. He selected Nilda Quijano as his running mate.

Democratic Change
Rómulo Roux, a former Canal Minister and Foreign Minister, won the CD presidential primary, defeating José Raúl Mulino, winning 68% to Mulino's 29%. He chose reporter Luis Casis as his running mate.

Alliance Party
The Alliance Party was a new political party led by Assembly member José Muñoz. José Domingo Arias, the losing CD presidential candidate in 2014, won its primary with over 90% of the vote. The party later chose to ally itself with the CD candidacy of Rómulo Roux, with Arias declining his presidential candidacy.