2019 Panamanian General Election

Next May 5, Panama will have general elections where not only the president will be elected but also mayors, deputies, councilors, among others.

In the next general elections of Panama, which will be held on May 5, the majority of the political cabinet will be renewed and those who arrive will be in office from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2024.

Key View

The May 2019 general election in Panama will be closely contested between the country’s three major parties.
Corruption will likely be a primary concern for voters as all three major parties and their leaders face allegations of wrongdoing.
Regardless of the outcome, the next president is unlikely to alter Panama’s pro-growth economic policies.

Of the 71 members of the National Assembly, 26 will be elected in single-member constituencies and 45 by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Each district with more than 40,000 inhabitants forms a constituency. Constituencies elect one MP for every 30,000 residents and an additional representative for every fraction over 10,000.

In single-member constituencies MPs are elected using the first-past-the-post system. In multi-member constituencies MPs are elected using party list proportional representation according to a double quotient; the first allocation of seats uses a simple quotient, further seats are allotted using the quotient divided by two, with any remaining seats are awarded to the parties with the greatest remainder.