Second Panama Presidential Debate

The audience was made up of young people, the age group with the most difficulties in getting a job.  The younger set was ready to ask questions and 18 year old Jordi Mastino had the first question.  “What initiatives will you develop to reduce unemployment among young people who have recently graduated from university? 

Rómulo Roux, candidate of Cambio Democrático and the Panameñista Party, promised that if he becomes president of the Republic he will generate 500 thousand jobs in five years, through a program that he would call “My first job”, with which internships would be offered to young people and tax benefits for companies that are part of the program. His goal, he added, is for 15 thousand young people to learn English every year. 

Candidate José Gabriel Carrizo, of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party and the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, brought this information to the attention of Rómulo Roux. “Between May 2022 and August 2023, around 25,662 young people between 15 and 29 years old found employment, 6,313 lost it and 84,569 searched but did not find it.”  Carrizo accused Roux of copying programs that the current government is already executing, and opted for the installation of semiconductor factories as a quick employment generator.  Carrizo also promised to reduce the mortgage rate so that young people can have access to homes. 

Martín Torrijos, from the Popular Party, will launch the “My first job” program, for university graduates looking for work. “We have to link what you study with what the market needs.”  The debate on reducing unemployment generated great expectations, understanding that young people face a lack of job opportunities and uncertainty about their economic future.

Maribel Gordón, through free application, said that one will be able to live off of art and culture. “In my government, your technical and university degrees will be valid. That is the commitment to youth,” added the candidate.

Ricardo Lombana, from the Otro Camino Movement, committed to promoting the so-called “apprentice program” in an attempt for companies to hire young people between 18 and 25 years old for three years and receive benefits.  He also spoke of the need for a non-refundable support fund to support entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on technology and “eliminating the political lever, creating poles of national development and in the provinces.”

Melitón Arrocha, of the free application, was inclined to establish an incubator of ideas to rescue young people who have projects related to technology.

Zulay Rodríguez, candidate for free nomination, resorted to her strong-arm speech against irregular migration, warning young people that migrants have “taken away” 100,000 jobs from them.

With a mostly young audience and national television broadcasting, the pressure on candidates to offer concrete and viable solutions was evident, in a country in which 262,874 new employment contracts were registered last year, 9% more than the year before in 2022, but 30% less than before the pandemic.