At stake in this election:

• 71 seats in the National Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal
• Head of Government: President Ricardo MARTINELLI Berrocal
• Assembly: Panama has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 71 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by simple majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), 45 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 26 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.[1]

Election Note:                                  

• The last elections to the National Assembly were held on May 3, 2009. Results can be found here. The Democratic Revolutionary Party lost 14 seats and Democratic Change gained 12 seats. Although the PRD retained its plurality of seats in the Assembly, Ricardo MARTINELLI of Democratic Change won the presidential election with over 60% of the vote. In addition to the parliamentary elections, Panamanians will also elect a new President and Vice President, 7 municipal councilors, 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), 77 mayors, and 648 township representatives on this day.

Main parties in this electoral race:

• Democratic Change / Cambio Democrático (CD)
  • President: José Domingo ARIAS
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 14
• Democratic Revolutionary Party / Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD)
  • President: Benicio Enacio ROBINSON Grajales
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 26
• Panemeñista Party / Partido Panameñista (PP)
  • President: Juan Carlos VARELA
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 22
• Liberal Republican Nationalist Movement / Movimiento Liberal Republicano Nacionalista (MOLIRENA)
  • President: Sergio González RUÍZ
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 2
• Broad Front of Democracy / Frente Amplio por la Democracia (FAD)
  • President: Fernando CEBAMANOS
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: N/A[2]
• Popular Party / Partido Popular
  • President: Milton HENRÍQUEZ
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 1

Last election:

• The last elections to the National Assembly were held on May 3, 2009. Results can be found here. The Democratic Revolutionary Party lost 14 seats and Democratic Change gained 12 seats. Although the PRD retained its plurality of seats in the Assembly, Ricardo MARTINELLI of Democratic Change won the presidential election with over 60% of the vote.

Population and Voter Registration:

• Population: 3,867,535 (2014)
• Eligible Voters: 2,457,401 (April 2014)[3]

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,927,965 (2014)

·         Is Panama a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (26 June 1980)

·         Has Panama ratified CEDAW: Yes (29 October 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 11 (following the 2014 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 60 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Panama a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Panama ratified CRPD: Yes (7 August 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 580,130 (est.)