1984 Panamanian general election
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General elections were held in Panama on 6 May 1984, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new Legislative Assembly.
Background
Under October 1978 legislation, eight parties had met quotas of 30,000 valid signatures by 1 April 1983, in order to legally nominate candidates in future elections.[1]
On 24 April 1983 the electorate overwhelmingly approved a number of amendments to the 1972 constitution in a referendum. Among the changes were the replacement of the existing 505-member National Assembly of Municipal Representatives by a national legislature of 70 members, and empowering this body to appoint high-ranking government officials, which had been the responsibility of the President.[2]
In August 1983 a new law created an Electoral Tribunal consisting of one each member appointed by the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The tribunal was given ultimate authority to interpret and implement electoral rules. A national vote-counting board was formed to process election returns and report to the Electoral Tribunal.[3]
General
President Ricardo de la Espriella resigned on 13 February 1984 and his vice-president Jorge Illueca assumed the presidency. The resignation of President and his cabinet was barely noticed during the intense election campaign. De la Espriella was forced out by Noriega, having "opposed the military's manipulation of the election and strongly advocated free elections for 1984".[5]
Campaign
The two primary candidates in the presidential race were opposition candidate
The American Institute for Free Labor Development and the National Endowment for Democracy provided around $20,000 in support of activists involved with Ardito Barletta's campaign, despite opposition from certain U.S. legislators such as Representative Hank Brown and Senator Edward Zorinsky, alongside Ambassador Everett Ellis Briggs.[7][8]
Results
Counting of votes was stopped early, then suspended on 9 May. On 12 May Barletta had 319,671 votes and Arias had 314,714. On 16 May the Tribunal said that Barletta had won by 1,713 votes.[9] According to political scientist Margaret Scranton, the process "looked suspicious" as "the announcement came ten days after the election, and one of the three members of the Tribunal abstained".[9]
President
Candidate | Party or alliance | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arnulfo Arias Madrid | Democratic Opposition Alliance | Authentic Panameñista Party | 221,335 | 34.57 | ||
Christian Democratic Party | 46,963 | 7.34 | ||||
Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement | 30,737 | 4.80 | ||||
Total | 299,035 | 46.71 | ||||
Rubén Darío Paredes | Popular Nationalist Party | 15,976 | 2.50 | |||
Carlos Iván Zúñiga | Popular Action Party | 13,782 | 2.15 | |||
Carlos Del Cid | People's Party of Panama | 4,598 | 0.72 | |||
José Renán Esquivel | Workers' Revolutionary Party | 3,969 | 0.62 | |||
Ricardo Barría | Socialist Workers' Party | 2,085 | 0.33 | |||
Total | 640,193 | 100.00 | ||||
Valid votes | 640,193 | 95.40 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 30,897 | 4.60 | ||||
Total votes | 671,090 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 917,677 | 73.13 | ||||
Source: Nohlen[10] |
National Assembly
Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Democratic Union | Liberal Party | 36,040 | 5.91 | 1 | ||
Panameñista Party | 8,063 | 1.32 | 0 | |||
Broad Popular Front | 7,813 | 1.28 | 0 | |||
Total | 330,631 | 54.26 | 45 | |||
Democratic Opposition Alliance | Authentic Panameñista Party | 124,562 | 20.44 | 13 | ||
Christian Democratic Party | 69,998 | 11.49 | 6 | |||
Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement | 50,936 | 8.36 | 3 | |||
Total | 245,496 | 40.29 | 22 | |||
Popular Nationalist Party | 12,596 | 2.07 | 0 | |||
Popular Action Party | 8,471 | 1.39 | 0 | |||
People's Party of Panama | 7,315 | 1.20 | 0 | |||
Workers' Revolutionary Party | 3,545 | 0.58 | 0 | |||
Socialist Workers Party | 1,283 | 0.21 | 0 | |||
Total | 609,337 | 100.00 | 67 | |||
Valid votes | 609,337 | 96.43 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 22,571 | 3.57 | ||||
Total votes | 631,908 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 917,677 | 68.86 | ||||
Source: Nohlen[11] |
Aftermath
On 13 September 1985, a long-time opponent of Noriega,
Barletta resigned on 27 September 1985, and was replaced by First Vice-President Eric Arturo Delvalle who promised to return to "Torrijista principles".[13]
"In 1987, the situation grew more critical, producing paralysis within the Panamanian Defense Forces. The crisis came to a head in June 1987 when Colonel Roberto Díaz Herrera, recently retired head of the Panamanian Defense Forces High Command, denounced the internal management of General Noriega's military organization. Díaz Herrera's act was the first public manifestation of a breach. In the face of the Panamanian Defense Forces's demonstrated weakness, the political sector began to mobilize and call for a confrontation with the military. Following the leadership of groups that appeared to have little political experience, they formed the 'Cruzada Civilista' for the purpose of overthrowing the Eric Arturo Delvalle government and convening a 'constituyente' assembly to draw up a new constitution".[14][cleanup needed]
"By late February 1988 the crisis further deepened as Eric Arturo Delvalle attempted to fire Noriega from the Panamanian Defense Forces. Instead, Eric Arturo Delvalle was sacked by the Panamanian Defense Forces-controlled National Assembly and
References
- ^ Pearson, Neale J. "Panama." Latin America and Caribbean contemporary record II. 1983. Pp. 583.
- ^ Chronicle of parliamentary elections. Geneva: International Centre for Parliamentary Documentation, Inter-Parliamentary Union. Volume 17, 1983. Pp. 12.
- ^ Modglin, Terrence W. 1984. The Panamanian presidential and legislative elections. Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic & International Studies. Pp. 14.
- ^ Black, Jan Knippers and Edmundo Flores. "Historical setting." Meditz, Sandra W. 1989. Panama: a country study. Washington, D.C.: Rederal Research Division, Library of Congress. Pp. 60.
- ^ Black, Jan Knippers and Edmundo Flores. "Historical setting." Meditz, Sandra W. 1989. Panama: a country study. Washington, D.C.: Rederal Research Division, Library of Congress. Pp. 63.
- ISBN 031333322X.
- ^ Franklin, Ben A. (29 May 1984). "Project Democracy Takes Wing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Kempster, Norman (6 February 1986). "Troubled Foundation: Democracy-Export Stirs Controversy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ a b Scranton, Margaret E. The Noriega years: U.S.-Panamanian relations, 1981-1990. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 1991. Pp. 76.
- ^ Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.533.
- ^ Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 1. [Oxford] [u.a.] : Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. Pp.527.
- ^ Scranton, Margaret E. The Noriega years: U.S.-Panamanian relations, 1981-1990. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 1991. Pp. 87.
- ^ Schooley, Helen. Conflict in Central America. Harlow: Longman. 1987. Pp. 121.
- ^ Gandásegui, Marco A. "The military regimes of Panama." Journal of interamerican studies and world affairs 35, 3:1-18 (fall 1993). Pp. 12.
- ^ Loser, Eva. The 1989 Panamanian elections: pre-election report. Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic & International Studies. 1989. Pp. 4.