Politics

Parties get ready for primary elections

Three opposition parties have already set a date for their elections next year. None of the official parties have yet done so. The next presidential election will be held on May 3, 2009.

LA PRENSA

Just ahead: The first primary elections will be held in january of 2008, the last in early fall of next year.957315

Election commitees for three opposition parties have begun organizing themselves for the primary elections in 2008.

The pre-electoral year will open with the primaries for the Vanguardia Moral de la Patria (VMP), led by ex-president and principal rival of Martín Torrijos in the 2004 election, Guillermo Endara. The date for the VMP's primary is Jan. 13, 2008.

The Directorio Nacional del Partido Panameñista has scheduled its primaries for July 6 of 2008. The president of the party, Juan Carlos Varela, along with ex-legislator Marco Ameglio and former presidential candiate Alberto Vallarino, have all announced their intention to run as candidates in the primaries

The Cambio Democrático party has selected Oct. 5 as its date for elections. Currently, only Ricardo Martinelli, who presides over the party's board of directors, is known to have aspirations to occupy the presidential palace, the Palacio de las Garzas.

The two other opposition parties, the Unión Patriótica and the Movimiento Liberal Republicano Nacionalista have not yet picked a date for their primaries.

The Secretary General of the Unión Patriótica, Jorge Ricardo Fábrega, reported that the directors of the party will meet on Jan 5. to appoint an election committee and to announce the rules for the primary, which will probably be held at the end of July or beginning of August.

None of the offical parties--the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD), the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Liberal-- have as yet determined a date for their elections.

The governing PRD, which has more than half a million registered members, currently finds itself in an election process for the representatives who will sit on the new Comité Ejecutivo Nacional (CEN) in March of next year.However, inside sources say their primary elections will take place between July and September.

Ex-president Ernesto Pérez Balladares and the mayor of Panama City, Juan Carlos Navarro, have already officially announced their intentions to run for the top office in the Palacio de las Garzas.