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 000863 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN/BRIGHAM 
 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PM POL SPECIALIST
SUBJECT: FRAUD PREVENTION, OBSTRUCTIONISM, AND BICKERING. 
PANAMA ELECTION COUNTDOWN #10:  3 WEEKS TO GO 
 
 
Ref: A. Panama 0730 
     ¶B. Panama 0791 
     ¶C. Panama 0828 
 
 
SUMMARY/COMMENT: EVERYONE PREPARING 
----------------------------------- 
¶1. (SBU) Panama's May 2 election - only three weeks away - 
is starting to concentrate minds.  The Electoral Tribunal 
is implementing fraud prevention procedures, informing 
voters, and fending off critics.  Electoral Prosecutor 
Gerardo Solis depoliticized his investigation of the 
Presidency's legal slush fund by postponing it until after 
the election.  Taking the opposite course, President 
Moscoso's entire cabinet publicly criticized Solis for 
exceeding his mandate under the constitution, a matter over 
which they have no authority.  Jose Miguel Aleman 
(Arnulfista) and Guillermo Endara (Solidarity) are 
attacking each other as they compete for the same anti-PRD 
voters.  With campaigning becoming more energetic and 
vigorous daily, Embassy still sees no indication that 
cheating or violence will mar May 2 polling. End Summary 
 
 
What - No Ink? 
-------------- 
¶2. (U) The Electoral Tribunal's 4/2 decision not to mark 
voters' fingers with India ink after they vote on May 2 
provoked strong criticism and allegations of potential 
electoral fraud.  In previous elections, electoral 
officials marked each voter's index finger with indelible 
ink after he/she voted to prevent individuals from voting 
more than once.  Electoral Magistrates decided that new 
information systems could crosscheck voting records and 
easily identify anyone voting more than once.  Critics are 
concerned about identifying those using more than one 
identity cards, and that the lag between Election Day and 
data entry could delay definitive polling results; however, 
Magistrates Valdes and Allen strongly defended their 
decision.  They claimed that during the 1999 Elections, 
only 100 people voted more than once.  After the computer 
system caught them, they were brought to electoral trial, 
found guilty and sentenced. 
 
 
One at a time, please 
--------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) During a radio interview, Director for Education 
and Human Rights Promotion of the Ombudsman Office, Cesar 
Solano, announced that only blind individuals or those with 
motor impediments that limit their ability to write could 
be assisted at the voting booth.  People with any other 
type of disability can be assisted all the way to the 
voting area, but should be left alone once there to vote. 
The goal is to protect voting secrecy.  Solano shared 
privately with Embassy why the Electoral Tribunal and the 
Ombudsman's Office had addressed this issue.  He mentioned 
allegations in the 1999 elections that political parties 
abused this entitlement in the remote Veraguas province 9-3 
Electoral Circuit, "escorting" people without severe 
disabilities to the voting area and hovering over them at 
the voting booth. (See Reftel A.) 
 
 
Moscoso's Legal "Secret" Slush Fund: The Saga Continues 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶4. (SBU) Electoral Prosecutor Gerardo Solis put the entire 
Moscoso cabinet in a tizzy this week.  On April 8, the 16- 
member cabinet made a joint statement that Solis' 
insistence on inspecting Ministry of the Presidency expense 
records to look for evidence that discretionary 
presidential funds were used illegally, to fund political 
activities, is itself illegal, unconstitutional, and 
politically motivated.  On 4/5, Minister of the Presidency 
Mirna Pitti refused to answer Solis' questionnaire 
regarding expenditures in her office, stating President 
Moscoso herself handles the funds.  Though Solis has no 
legal authority to investigate Moscoso herself, it is 
common knowledge the Minister of the Presidency manages the 
funds on a day-to-day basis. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Solis and others, including a former Electoral 
Magistrate and a former Supreme Court Justice, reacted by 
stating that Pitti cannot hide behind Moscoso and her 
Cabinet's position is wrong.  Solis reiterated that he is 
not assuming that there has been any wrongdoing with the 
fund, but the GOP's position not to reveal details is 
questionable.  Despite the Solis'threat of immediate legal 
action, he stood down and publicly announced that he had 
returned the questionnaire to Pitti and set a deadline for 
her reply after May 2.  Solis justified his decision by 
saying that he does not want to influence the ongoing 
electoral process. 
 
 
Endara & Aleman tit for tat 
--------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Former President Guillermo Endara insists that he 
remains an Arnulfista, banking on disillusioned party 
members to support him.  Endara explained that he does not 
support Moscoso, so he is not a "Mireyista."  Noting his 
Arnulfista roots, Endara said that he is not "controlled by 
Moscoso or her corrupted inner circle."  Throughout the 
campaign, members of Jose Miguel Aleman's campaign team 
have feared that Arnulfistas, particularly the illiterate, 
could get confused and vote for Endara, believing that 
Endara (instead of Aleman) is the Arnulfista candidate. 
Endara's original attempt to win Arnulfista votes by using 
late President Arnulfo Arias' image was censored by the 
Electoral Tribunal (ET), spurring Endara to criticize the 
institution.  Aleman's team has made a strong internal 
effort to inform rural Arnulfistas that Aleman, not Endara, 
is the party presidential candidate. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a shameless vote-grabbing ploy, Arnulfista 
Presidential candidate Jose Miguel Aleman staged a photo-op 
with several Endara administration cabinet ministers, but 
many observers considered it distasteful that a son of one 
deceased cabinet member and the widow of another were 
included.  Former Housing Minister Guillermo Quijano, a 
well-known construction developer and TGI Friday's 
franchisee, "reminded" Panamanians of the unique and 
adverse conditions immediately after Operation Just Cause 
when they took office, highlighting how fit they left 
Panama at the end of their term.  But will that convince 
voters not to vote for Endara?  Endara's running mate 
Guillermo Ford responded that everyone in Endara's cabinet 
worked under direct instructions from President Endara and 
they should share credit with Endara for their 
accomplishments.  Ford encouraged Panamanians to vote for 
Endara on Election Day so the PRD could not take power. 
 
 
Another flawed opinion poll 
--------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) Local company Investigacion y Mercadeo announced a 
poll using a new system.  The polling system was 
implemented jointly with U.S.-based Greenberg Research, 
known for its work on Bill Clinton's campaign.  Panama 
residents received computer-generated phone calls asking 
which presidential candidate they would vote for and to 
identify their choices by touch tone key.  The sampling 
methodology is questionable.  Four members of the Embassy 
Political Section found messages on their Embassy voicemail 
from the automated polling server upon arriving in the 
office on April 5.  Like other opinion polls in Panama, 
this one does not appear very trustworthy.  (See Reftel C.) 
 
 
MCMULLEN