Coalition would bury Arias presidential bid – poll

AN ALLIANCE   of the opposition PRD and Panameñista parties would win the upcoming  presidential election whichever of the two  party leaders was at the helm  says a recent poll.

 The survey  commissioned by Quantix Panama, SA , for La Prensa  confirmed that the CD candidate José Domingo Arias would get the short end of the stick.

With Varela as the leader of the coalition, there would be a victory over Arias of  16 points (Varela 39% Arias 23%).

Varela got 47.6% of the votes of Navarro supporters 29.6% of Independents and 13.2% of the followers of Arias

With Navarro as the front man  the gap would narrow to 12 points (Navarro 38%, Arias 26%).

The survey was conducted between November 15 and 18  with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 points.

The PRD candidate would have the support of 41.5% of the followers of Varela, 23% of independents, and 11% of Arias supporters.

The united front would benefit from a “kick the bums out” reaction to four years of allegations of authoritarianism, corruption, and  cronyism in spite of the infrastructure achievements of the Martinelli administration.

The sticking point so far is Varela’s voiced opposition to a coalition, with lingering memories of unfulfilled promises when he succumbed to Martinelli’s blandishment’s and formed a coalition with the CD in the run up to the last election.

Navarro has sought a coalition and said he would do anything to achieve it.

Six months is a long time  in politics, but as things stand, a coalition would put an end to the ambitions of Arias, and concerns among citizen’s groups that Martinelli would still be pulling the strings.

The survey was conducted between November 15 and 18  with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 points.  The survey will be published Monday in the Pulse of the Nation. In La Prensa on Monday, November 25.