Ricardo Martinelli was sworn in as Panama's 52nd President on July 1, 2009, after winning a record landslide victory over two rivals in the May 3, 2009, national election.  The Martinelli- Varela ticket (the four-party Alianza por el Cambio or Alliance for Change coalition) received the highest vote count of any Panamanian running for President (950,367 or 59.97 percent of the total 1,537,714 valid votes cast) to 37.70 percent (597, 417 votes) garnered by the Revolutionary Democratic candidate Balbina Herrera and 2.33 percent (36,850 votes) by former President Guillermo Endara.(1989-1994). Another record set was the total votes cast by registered voters in Panamanian presidential elections (1,634,989) or 73.96 percent -- bested only by the 2004 election in percentage (76.90 percent).  

The Alliance for Change coalition also won decisive control of the 71-member National Assembly, whose deputies were sworn in the same day in a separate ceremony for the new legislative term. 

The date of the presidential inauguration and swearing in of the National Assembly was changed from September 1 to July 1 after the national election, as one of the changes made to the Constitution in 2004, as noted below.

* Above section added by WHO, July 19, 2009.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Panama is a representative democracy with three branches of government: executive and legislative branches elected by direct vote for 5-year terms, and an independently appointed judiciary. The executive branch includes a president and two vice presidents. The legislative branch consists of a 78-member unicameral National Assembly. The Constitution was changed in 2004, however, and beginning with national elections in May 2009, the executive branch will have only one vice president, and the membership of the National Assembly will be capped at 71. The judicial branch is organized under a nine-member Supreme Court  (each judge is appointed for a 10-year term) and includes all tribunals and municipal courts. An autonomous Electoral Tribunal supervises voter registration, the election process, and the activities of political parties. Everyone over the age of 18 may vote.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The Panamanian Government has converted the former Panama Defense Forces (PDF) into the Panamanian Public Force (PPF), a "law enforcement-focused" force that is subordinate to civilian authority, composed , until August 2008, of four independent organizations: the Panamanian National Police (Policia Nacional de Panama or PNP), the National Maritime Service (Servicio Maritimo Nacional or SMN), the National Air Service (Servicio Aereo or SAN), and the Institutional Protection Service (Servicio de Proteccion Institucional or SPI -- somewhat like the U.S. Secret Service).  A constitutional amendment, passed in 1994, permanently abolished the military. Utilizing special authority granted him by the National Assembly, President Torrijos enacted legislation in August 2008 that formed the National Frontier Service (Servicio Nacional de Fronteras or SENAFRONT), the National Aero-Naval Service (Servicio Nacional Aero-Naval or SENAN), which combined the National Maritime Service and the National Air Service), and the Civilian Intelligence Service (Servicio Nacional de Ingteligencia y Seguridad - SENIS). The process by which President Torrijos enacted this legislation drew much public criticism, but his government moved forward on efforts to stand up these new entities beginning in September 2008.

Law enforcement units that are separated from the Panama Public Force (PPF), such as the Judicial Investigative Directorate (DIJ), also are directly subordinate to civilian authorities. The Public Force budget, in contrast to the former PDF, is on public record and under control of the executive. The lead criminal investigative entity is the DIJ. Previously under the nominal direction of the autonomous Attorney General and known as the Technical Judicial Police (PTJ) since 1990, the DIJ is now part of the PNP though it maintains investigative links with the Attorney General's office.

Principal Government Officials *

President -- Ricardo MARTINELLI  Berrocal

Vice President -- Juan Carlos Varela (also Foreign Affairs Minister) 

Minister of Foreign Affairs -- Juan Carlos Varela

Minister of Government and Justice -- José Raúl Mulino

Minister of the Presidency -- Jimmy Papadimitriu

Minister of Commerce and Industries -- Roberto Henríquez

Ambassador to the United States -- 

Ambassador to the United Nations -- 

Ambassador to the Organization of American States -- 

* Updated with new administration officials, by WHO, July 19, 2009.

Panama maintains an embassy in the United States at 2862 McGill Terrace, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: 202-483-1407), and consulates in Washington DC, Honolulu, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Juan, San Diego, and Tampa.