This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 000892 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN/BRIGHAM 
 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PM POL SPECIALIST
SUBJECT: Education, Absenteeism, and Closing Rallies. 
Panama Election Countdown #11: 2 Weeks to go. 
 
Ref: A. Panama 0863 
     ¶B. Panama 0791 
 
 
Summary/Comment: Almost There 
----------------------------- 
¶1.  (SBU) Candidates, voters, and electoral officials are 
in the home stretch for Panama's May 2 general elections. 
The Electoral Tribunal (ET) briefed the diplomatic corps on 
elections in an April 13 luncheon presentation with media 
present.  On April 14, the ET warned the Supreme Court not 
to accept the case filed by Minister of the Presidency to 
inhibit Electoral Prosecutor Gerardo Solis' investigation 
of discretionary Presidency expenditures.  The Panama 
chapter of Transparency International lamented that high 
absenteeism forced Panama's Legislative Assembly to adjourn 
until May 3.  This week, presidential candidates announced 
their closing campaign events.  The final presidential 
debate is scheduled for Tuesday, April 20.  Labor leader 
calls for union members to submit void or blank ballots 
will likely fall on deaf ears.  Embassy sees continued 
normal development of the campaign with no areas of 
concern.  End summary. 
 
 
President's legal "secret" slush fund continued 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶2.  (SBU) Observers are hoping that the Supreme Court 
rejects the request that Minister of the Presidency Mirna 
Pitti filed with it on 4/13.  Pitti's request seeks to ban 
Electoral Prosecutor Gerardo Solis from investigating the 
President's discretionary expenditures, on constitutional 
grounds.  Solis told Emboffs that he has postponed all 
action until after May 2 so that the case does not become 
more politicized.  Electoral Tribunal Magistrate Eduardo 
Valdes marked his territory with acrid 4/14 statements to 
the press that the Supreme Court should not meddle in 
electoral affairs. 
 
 
3  (SBU) COMMENT:  In terms of context, most Panamanians 
believe President Moscoso controls the Supreme Court, to 
which she appointed five of nine sitting Justices, all but 
one with close political ties to her.  In this instance, 
Valdes' ire relates to the Court's "stealing" from the 
Electoral Tribunal the earlier case involving the appeal by 
Legislator Carlos Afu of his expulsion from the PRD. 
Constitutional scholars assert that the Supreme Court 
should only have reviewed the Afu case after the Electoral 
Tribunal issued a ruling.  These scholars say that the 
Supreme Court should reject Pitti's case.  As in the Afu 
case, former Electoral and Court officials insist that 
Pitti may only pursue a Supreme Court case if Solis' 
investigation yields an Electoral Tribunal ruling that 
Pitti believes violates her constitutional rights.  Solis 
is well within his constitutional mandate, they add.  END 
COMMENT 
 
 
Electoral training for Diplomatic Corps 
--------------------------------------- 
¶4.  (U) Emboffs attended a 4/13 Electoral Tribunal (ET) 
presentation/lunch offered to educate members of the 
diplomatic corps about Panama's May 2 elections.  In 
addition to explaining the electoral law, the ET provided 
sample ballots, described safeguards to prevent fraud (ref. 
A) and invited foreign diplomats to observe the voting 
(ref. B).  ET officials also announced international and 
national observers who will cover Panama's May 2 elections. 
In addition to 25-30 member OAS observer delegation, 
approximately 15 Ombudsmen from other Latin American 
countries will observer May 2 voting.  About 1,500 
Panamanian observers from the Catholic Church's Peace and 
Justice Commission and 300 from the Panamanian Ombudsman's 
office will also observe voting.  Approximately 30 Embassy 
observers will cover 12 different sites, six in Metro 
Panama, where nearly half of Panama's voting population 
resides, and the other six outside the capital. 
 
 
Where are all the Legislators? 
------------------------------ 
¶5.  (SBU) Electoral campaigning has paralyzed the 
Legislative Assembly as many legislators seeking re- 
election and staffers running for office have taken leave 
from their official duties, leaving the body in the hands 
of the very few alternates who show up.  Assembly President 
Jacobo Salas (Arnulfista), and Budget Committee Chairman 
Arnulfista Alcibiades Vasquez (Arnulfista), pleaded with 
their colleagues to attend legislative sessions to no 
avail.  So little was accomplished earlier this week that 
Assembly management postponed sessions until May 3.  To 
compensate for lost time, legislators are supposed to work 
all Fridays and Saturdays until the Assembly adjourns on 
June 30.  Civil society representatives, most notably 
Transparency International (TI) Panama Chapter's Executive 
Director Angelica Maytin have asked Panamanians to take 
absenteeism into account when voting on May 2. 
 
 
TI-Panama to publish candidates' backgrounds 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶6.  (SBU) Panama's Chapter of Transparency International 
(TI) plans to broadcast biographical information about 
presidential candidates and other candidates, as well as 
information about their proposed policies.  TI sent 
candidates a questionnaire with an April 15 deadline, then 
published a 4/14 ad in local media reminding candidates 
that hadn't submitted information to do so and listing 
their names.  The list included, among others, presidential 
candidates Martin Torrijos (PRD-PP) and Ricardo Martinelli 
(CD).  A PRD source called the long and detailed 
questionnaire "ridiculous."  Source told Embassy that 
Torrijos was adamantly against responding because, "it felt 
as if he were confessing to the Pope." 
 
 
Final Campaign Rallies 
----------------------- 
¶7.  (U) Presidential candidates have announced 
traditionally massive campaign closing rallies.  The two 
largest coalitions have made the most complex plans. 
Arnulfista candidate Jose Miguel Aleman announced at a 
press conference that his alliance has planned a large 
caravan in Panama City on Sunday, April 18 and will top off 
their campaign on Sunday, April 25 at a large Panama City 
gathering.  Unfazed by financial constraints, PRD-PP Martin 
Torrijos will hold several regional events to top off his 
campaign.  Also on 4/25, Torrijos will close his campaign 
in the western province of Chiriqui.  Torrijos will then 
close in Panama City on 4/28.  He is considering other 
final events in other parts of the country. 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Panama's two one-party candidates have also 
discussed their plans for final campaign events. 
Solidarity presidential candidate Guillermo Endara, who has 
run a frugal campaign due to lack of funds, decided not to 
hold a large event in a single venue, but will stage a six- 
day caravan beginning in the Western Province of Chiriqui 
and ending in the Atlantic Province of Colon, apparently an 
Endara stronghold.  During the caravan, Endara plans to 
visit 29 communities.  Cambio Democratico Ricardo 
Martinelli hasn't announced specific plans yet, but his 
associates have suggested that he will do something 
unconventional.  Critics have speculated that Martinelli 
might refrain from hosting a large event to avoid the 
embarrassment of a weak turnout. 
 
 
Unions call for void/blank votes 
-------------------------------- 
¶9.  (SBU) In another demonstration of their lack of civic 
responsibility, Panama's union leaders have called on their 
members to either void their vote or submit a blank ballot 
on May 2.  They're protesting the arrest of SUNTRACS leader 
Gerardo Lopez after a recent fracas at the Ministry of 
Labor where SUNTRACS was seeking to establish a legal 
personality for a new union of workers on the Southern 
Corridor highway.  Unions in Panama are poorly organized, 
but have the strongest pull in the construction and 
transportation sectors, where they seek to protect vested 
interests.  (COMMENT: The Cuban-funded SUNTRACS blocked 
streets to protest the ouster of former CSS director Juan 
Jovane in September 2003.  Since Panama's vote is secret 
and unions are poorly organized, Embassy does not expect 
any major adherence to this call.) 
 
 
MCMULLEN