The Presidential Candidates Attended Mass Together Saturday

The Presidential candidates said peace to each other in a mass.  It seems as if the words of Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa had struck a chord with the candidates at the moment.  Handshakes and hugs were given. Then they sang the national anthem side by side.  Five of the eight candidates for the Presidency attended a mass Saturday presided over by Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa. During the three months of the campaign, the eight candidates were not saying very nice things about or to each other. Yet Saturday, one day before the May 5 elections, five of the eight candidates for the Presidency of the Republic gave peace to each other with handshakes and hugs at a Mass for Peace and Justice in the Holy Cathedral Basilica María La Antigua, in the historic Casco Antiguo, very close to the Palacio de las Garzas, which until July 1 will be occupied by the current president.  At the end of the event, they sang the national anthem side by side.

Let me take you on a Newsroom Panama virtual tour of the church.  Rómulo Roux, candidate for the Democratic Change (CD) alliance and the Panameñista Party, was sitting in the second row, on the left, next to José Isabel Blandón, his running mate.  Both gave more than a dollar when the offerings were collected.  They drank bottled water offered by their campaign team. They looked relaxed.  His opponent, Ricardo Lombana, a candidate for the Other Path Movement (MOCA), was located in the row directly behind.  He was accompanied by his fiancé Yira Gorrichátegui and his vice presidential candidate Michael Chen.  Gorrichátegui and Lombana sang the praises and prayed out loud.  Martín Torrijos, candidate for the Popular Party, sat in the second row, directly diagonal to Roux.  He was accompanied by his wife Vivian Fernández de Torrijos and his running mate Rosario Turner former health minister.  He looked serious.  Maribel Gordón, candidate for free nomination, and her running mate Richard Morales sat behind Torrijos.  Melitón Arrocha, the candidate for the Social Independent Alternative Party (PAIS) and for the free nomination, did not attend, who a few days ago at the end of his campaign through in the towel in favor of Torrijos without formally leaving the race.  Torrijos said that he did not know why Arrocha had not attended the mass.  Arrocha’s campaign team has not discussed the reason for his absence at mass.  José Gabriel “Gaby” Carrizo, current vice president and presidential candidate for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), also did not attend.  In previous interviews, Carrizo has said that he considers himself a devout Catholic.  It was common for him to thank “God and the Virgin” before his first discussions in the debates and forums he attended.  His spokesperson said that Carrizo was meeting with international observers and that is why he did not come to church.  Zulay Rodríguez, candidate for the free nomination, could not make it to the mass because her team has “few economic and human resources” to divide themselves into their activities, said her spokesperson when consulted.  A group of her and Rodríguez’s campaign team do plan to attend mass Sunday, her spokeswoman added.  José Raúl Mulino, candidate for the Realizing Goals and Alianza parties, sat a row behind Gordon.  He was accompanied by his wife Maricel de Mulino, his children and grandchildren.  He maintained a serious look on his face during the mass. 

The judges of the Electoral Tribunal (TE), Eduardo Valdés Escoffery and Alfredo Juncá, sat in the first row with their families. Magistrate Luis Guerra chose to sit directly next to his colleagues, also in the front row.  The mass was presided over by Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa, who spoke directly to the candidates in a conciliatory tone.  “Respected presidential candidates……..Among you is the next president of the Republic of Panama,” said Ulloa. “Whoever is elected has the commitment to take off the shirt of the party or the free nomination and put on the shirt of Panama because he will be the president of all Panamanians……After an intense electoral campaign where everything has been said and against everyone, without a doubt they have left many wounds that we must heal. We want a reconciled homeland where there is forgiveness.”

To voters, Ulloa told them that he knows they can respect each other at the polls tomorrow, despite any political differences.  “The electoral process has to be what it has to be: a responsible civic celebration,” added Ulloa. “It must be a commitment that strengthens democracy and reinforces the country’s institutions,” he added.  To the members of the TE, the National Scrutiny Board, table delegates and national and international observers, Ulloa stressed their responsibility to vote for transparency and democracy.  “You will be witnesses of our electoral exercise and guarantors,” said Ulloa. “Thank you for your contribution and the peace of mind you give to our country.” Peace and we finally achieve victory. 

It seems as if Ulloa’s words had struck a chord with the candidates at the moment of peace.  That’s when Roux shook Lombana’s hand.  Blandón, Gorrichátegui and Chen also greeted each other.  Roux approached Gordon and Richard Morales, his running mate, who did not move from their bench to give peace, and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.  The surprise of the morning came when Mulino walked towards Torrijos, Roux and Lombana and gave them peace. His wife also followed him. Lombana and her fiancee then walked towards Mulino’s wife to hug her.

At the end of the mass, Ulloa asked the five candidates to come to the front of the altar to sing the national anthem.  “We finally achieved victory, in the happy field of union. With fiery rays of glory, the new nation is illuminated,” they chanted side by side.  But the conciliatory tone did not last long.  Each candidate left the church on their own to give statements to the media.  Mulino said that he never had doubts that he would run, referring to the recent ruling of the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice, a body that enabled him to run two days before the elections.  “I never thought I wouldn’t run,” Mulino told this media.  “Tomorrow I present myself to the Panamanian people, who are the only ones who can enable or disqualify me,” he said. 

Lombana said there is no doubt that he is among the two candidates who will receive the most votes. “The Panamanian people are clear that the choice is between Mulino and Lombana… I am going to sleep peacefully today; I know that the choice is between Mulino and me. We are in peace. We are optimistic. Tomorrow the people will speak loud and clear.”

Roux attacked an alleged alliance between the RM party and the PRD. He is the only option to overthrow this so-called alliance, he said. “There is no survey that does not put me in second place in voting intention… There is no way that we will not win this election,” Roux responded to the media outside the basilica.  The fight, Roux said, is between him and Mulino.  “Don’t vote your vote,” he said. “Voting for Lombana or voting for Martín Torrijos is favoring the impunity pact of RM, with Mulino, with the PRD, with Benicio [Robinson], with Gaby [Carrizo], people who already agreed during my presidential primary to “try to prevent us from changing the country.”  Torrijos, for his part, kept the peace and urged Panamanians to vote with conscience.