Independents and new party create political waves in Panama

In the   May 2024 elections,  voters tired of the non-delivery of election promises will have the chance to turn to new independent coalitions and new political parties with anti-system, anti-corruption, and “new politics”.

In recent days, two different events have shaken the public agenda. On the afternoon of  Tuesday, April 5, a group of young people announced the creation of the Vamos coalition, led by independent deputies Juan Diego Vásquez and Gabriel Silva.

Two days earlier, on Sunday, the movement “Another Path “(Otro Camino) a political party in formation led by former independent presidential candidate Ricardo Lombana, held its first internal elections to elect 313 national leaders.

The signs of change come at a time when the traditional parties are facing disenchantment due to the lack of credibility and trust. According to the Citizenship and Rights 2021 survey, published by the International Center for Political and Social Studies (CIEPS), political parties are among the least credible Panamanian institutions. Only 24.2% of those surveyed value them positively.

“Today a new chapter is being written in the history of independent candidacies in Panama,” Silva said during the coalition’s presentation at Parque Urracá. He added that they are looking for “decent, honest, hard-working and prepared” people to apply and be part of the coalition.

“We need to take over the National Assembly, we need to take over the local governments and we are going to do it in 2024.”.

The current Assembly has an independent bench for the first time in its history made up of Vásquez, Silva, Edison Broce, Raúl Fernandez and Adan Bejerano. It is not ruled out that Broce and Fernández will later join the coalition promoted by Silva and Vásquez.

Critical voices
After the three years of the Cortizo administration, the independent deputies are the main critical voices of the government. The independent caucus, with the marked exception of Bejerano, most of the time, tends to oppose controversial bills, while other opposition caucuses are divided or support the steamroller of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

The political scientist and researcher, Juan Diego Alvarado, told La Prensa the importance of political parties in Panamanian democracy, “They are the building blocks, for better and for worse,” he said. In 2019, although the free candidacies for the Presidency generated more support than ever, as Lombana obtained 18.8% of the total votes, Alvarado explains that free candidacies have always been an option.

However, 2019 also showed the limitations that candidacies have to organize. For Alvarado, this will be one of the main challenges of the independent candidacies, to be able to permeate other sectors of the population, far from the capital city, urban areas, and university or academic circles.

“Both (Vamos Coalition and Otro Camino) are manifestations of the tension that exists between people’s disaffection with the parties and the articulation of an independent political identity with the structural imperatives that force you to organize yourself to achieve better electoral results,” Alvarado said.

The creation of the political party Movimiento Otro Camino Panamá has generated criticism. Although Lombana received historic support in the 2019 elections, as he capitalized on the discontent that existed over the handling of public affairs by traditional parties, he argues that he created the party to compete “on equal terms.” Promotional videos, detail that a party “is the most appropriate vehicle to establish democratic leadership throughout the country and to establish the principles that unite us.”