The Panama held a general election on 7 May 1989, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new Legislative Assembly.
The death of Arnulfo Arias in August 1988, a few days before his eighty-seventh birthday, removed a major obstacle to opposition unity, but also created several new problems. It left the opposition without a charismatic national leader to place at the head of any 1989 electoral ticket. [1]
The PPA, Panama's leading opposition party, divided in December 1988. The Electoral Tribunal formally recognized the faction led by Hildebrando Nicosia Pérez as the legitimate party representative, entitling Nicosia and his colleagues to use the party symbols. According to the opposition, the government engineered the division in the party to sow confusion among the electorate. However, Nicosia's effort to present himself as the heir of Arias was singularly unsuccessful according to the opposition's election results, which showed him receiving less than one percent of the vote . A majority of the PPA's hierarchy supported the anti-government Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC); the party's secretary-general, Guillermo Endara, was ADOC's presidential candidate. Denied use of the PPA symbol, Endara and the party's legislative candidates competed under the banner of the Authentic Liberal Party, which is the product of a schism that developed in the Liberal Party prior to the 1984 elections. The Noriega regime also provoked a split in the Republican Party (RP), but the majority of the legitimate leadership of the RP participated in the ADOC coalition. [2]
Opposing the government coalition (ADOC) were three major parties—the PDC, MOLIRENA, and PLA. ADOC also had the support of the small Popular Action Party (PAPA), and National Peoples Party (PNP), and defectors from the Liberal and Republican parties, and a dissident faction of the PPA. In addition to Endara, ADOC's electoral slate included Ricardo Arias Calderón of the PDC for first vice president and Guillermo Ford of MOLIRENA for second vice president. [3]
Progovernment parties - the PRD, PALA, PR, PL, PPR, PPP, PAN, PDT had formed a new electoral coalition, the National Liberation Coalition (COLINA). The PRD was the coalition's leading party and its president, Carlos Alberto Duque Jaén, a business associate of Manuel Noriega, was the coalition's presidential candidate. COLINA's other significant party was PALA, led by Ramón Sieiro Murgas, the coalition's candidate for first vice president and a brother-in-law of Manuel Noriega. COLINA's candidate for second vice president was Aquilino Boyd, former foreign minister, and former ambassador to the United States, the United Nations and, most recently, the Organization of American States. COLINA, in presenting a united slate for the legislature, contained a broad ideological spectrum that included Communist Party members, businessmen and professionals. [4]
An exit poll of 1,022 voters gave the opposition an overwhelming victory: 55.1% for Endara, but only 39.5% for Duque. The margin shocked Noriega, who either was misled by advisers or really believed that the election would be close enough to manipulate with minimal fraud. [5]
On 9 May, government-released results gave a clear-cut lead to Duque. Opposition forces - as well as foreign observers and the clergy - thereupon claimed massive election irregularities since by their own count there had been a contrary outcome, with Endara the overwhelming winner. Parliamentary results for their part indicated an opposition victory. [6]
On 10 May the president of the Electoral Tribunal read a statement signed by all three magistrates annulling the elections. The statement alluded to the fact that the great number of irregularities across the country made counting the votes impossible. [7]
Coupled with a brutal attack on opposition leaders in the streets of Panama City, the nullification decree outraged Panamanians and the international community. In an emergency session on 17 May, the Organization of American States adopted a resolution condemning the regime for its actions. [8]
On 31 August the Council of State dissolves the National Assembly and names a provisional government headed by ex-Attorney General Francisco Rodríguez and announced that he would consider holding another election in six months. [9]
On 15 December the immediate events that triggered the invasion began when Panama’s hand-picked National Assembly declared Manuel Antonio Noriega the de jure head of state, draping him with the title of Maximum Leader. Then the assembly, citing aggression against the Panamanian people, declared the republic in a state of war with the United States. [10]
On 20 December “24,000 US troops invade in ‘Operation Just Cause’. Noriega surrenders to US forces, is shipped to Miami and indicted on drugs charges". [11]
On 20 December "the fact that President Guillermo Endara was installed in office on a U.S. Air Force base during the 1989 invasion provides Panamanians with a graphic illustration of American influence". [12]
On 27 December, the Electoral Tribunal revoked the annulment of the general elections held on 7 May. [13]
On 23 February 1990, the Electoral Tribunal, working on voting returns of the May 1989 elections confirmed the election of 58 of the 67 legislators with 51 seats going to the ADOC coalition and only six to the pro-Noriega PRD. [14]
On 27 January 1991, by-elections were held for the nine seats of the Legislative Assembly which could not be filled at the May 1989 general elections. The PRD’s victory in five of the seats deepened internal divisions in the government coalition. [15]
In April 1991, the ADOC coalition finally unraveled when President Endara accused the PDC and its leader, Vice-President Ricardo Arias Calderón, of attempting to undermine and weaken his government. [16]
| Candidate | Party/Alliance | Votes[17] | % | Votes[18] | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guillermo Endara | Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC) | 463,388 | 71.18% | 473,838 | 71.19% |
| Christian Democratic Party (PDC) | 261,598 | 40.18% | ?? | ?? | |
| National Liberal Republican Movement (MOLIRENA) | 132,011 | 20.28% | ?? | ?? | |
| Authentic Liberal Party (PLA) | 69,779 | 10.72% | ?? | ?? | |
| Carlos Alberto Duque Jaén | National Liberal Coalition (COLINA) | 184,900 | 28.40% | 188,914 | 28.38% |
| Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) | 120,564 | 18.52% | ?? | ?? | |
| Labor and Agrarian Party (PALA) | 35,264 | 05.42% | ?? | ?? | |
| Liberal Party (PL) | 12,718 | 01.95% | ?? | ?? | |
| Republican Party (PR) | 5,584 | 00.86% | ?? | ?? | |
| Revolutionary Panameñista Party (PPR) | 5,533 | 00.85% | ?? | ?? | |
| People’s Party of Panama (PPP) | 2,919 | 00.45% | ?? | ?? | |
| Nationalist Action Party (PAN) | 1,463 | 00.22% | ?? | ?? | |
| Democratic Worker's Party (PDT) | 855 | 00.13% | ?? | ?? | |
| Hildebrando Nicosia Pérez | Authentic Panameñista Party (PPA) | 2,750 | 00.42% | 2,822 | 00.42% |
| Total valid votes | 651,038 | 100% | 665,574 | 100% | |
| Spoilt and invalid votes | 66733 | 09.30% | 92223 | 12.17% | |
| Total votes/Turnout | 717,771 | 60.48% | 757797 | 63.85% | |
| Registered voters | 11867,54 | 1186754 | |||
| Population | 2239239 | 2239239 | |||
| Parties and alliances | Votes/districts | % | Seats 7.5.1989 | Seats 27.1.1991 | Seats total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC) | 404,834 | 66.45% | 51 | 04 | 55 |
| Christian Democratic Party (PDC) | 219,944 | 36.10% | 27 | 02 | 28 |
| National Liberal Republican Movement (MOLIRENA) | 122,974 | 20.19% | 15 | 02 | 16 |
| Authentic Liberal Party (PLA) | 61,916 | 10.16% | 09 | 00 | 05 |
| Arnulfista Party (PA) | — | — | — | 00 | 06 |
| National Liberal Coalition (COLINA) | 201,382 | 33.06% | 07 | 05 | 12 |
| Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) | 114,741 | 18.83% | 06 | 04 | 10 |
| Labor and Agrarian Party (PALA) | 47,775 | 07.84% | 01 | 00 | 01 |
| Liberal Party (PL) | 17,712 | 02.91% | 00 | 01 | 01 |
| Republican Party (PR) | 8,602 | 01.41% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| People’s Party of Panama (PPP) | 4,988 | 00.82% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Nationalist Action Party (PAN) | 3,572 | 00.59% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Revolutionary Panameñista Party (PPR) | 2,917 | 00.48% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Democratic Worker's Party (PDT) | 1,075 | 00.18% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Authentic Panameñista Party (PPA) | 3,015 | 00.49% | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| Total valid votes | 609,231 | 100% | 67 | 09 | 67 |
| Spoilt and invalid votes | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Total votes/Turnout | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Registered voters | 1186754 | ||||
| Population | 2239239 |
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